January 31^st

8:00-8:30       Registration

8:30-8-35      Welcome address (Khayam Nekoei, DG of ABRII)

8:35-8:45        Opening Remark (PourHemmat , Deputy Minister and Head of AEERO)

8:45-8:50    Course introduction (Hosseini Salekdeh)

8:50-9:00       Participants introduce themselves

9:00-9:30       Metrological aspects of drought (Javad Bodagh Jamali)

9:300-10:00   Impact of drought on agriculture (Heidari Sharifabad)

         10:00-10:30   Break

10:30 -11:15  Introduction to physiological breeding (Matthew Reynolds)

11:15-12:00   Dimensions of Resource Capture: complementary research platforms to raise yield potential  (Matthew Reynolds)

12:00-13:30   Lunch

13:30-14:15   Yield improvement in dry environments: benchmarks and principles for progress (Richard Richards)

14:15-15:00   Physiological traits for water-limited environments - what are the success stories? (Richard Richards)

15:00-15:30  Break

15:30-16:15  Examples of physiological interventions in breeding wheat for drought adaptation  (Matthew Reynolds)

16:15-17:00  A case study in wheat: A physiological and molecular breeding program to improve yields in dry environments (Richard Richards)

17:00-17:30  General Discussion

19:00-21:00   Welcome dinner

February 1^st

8:30-9:15   Spring wheat breeding at CIMMYT for drought tolerance (Alexey Morgounov)

9:15-10:00   Winter wheat breeding for drought tolerance (Alexey Morgounov)

10:00-10:30 Break

10:30 -11:15 Conservation Agriculture:  Potential Solution to Enhance Crop Productivity, Crop Water Use and Reverse Soil Degradation (Matthew Reynolds/Ken Sayre)

11:15-12:00 Strategies for wheat productivity improvement in the regions with low moisture availability (Kazakhstan, Turkey, Canada, Russia, USA, Ukraine) (Alexey Morgounov)

12:00-13:30  Lunch

13:30-14:15 Breeding for drought tolerance at SPII: history, achievements and prospects (Mostapha Aghaei, Director General of SPII)

14:15-15:00 Plant breeding strategies against drought stress in DARI (Reza Haghparast)

15:00-15:30 Break

15:30-16:15  Introduction to plant transformation technology: particle bombardement and Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation  (Khaled Masmoudi )

16:15-17:00  Molecular basis of improving drought and salinity tolerance in cereals (Khaled Masmoudi )

17:00-17:30 General Discussion

February 2^nd

8:30-9:15      Towards a molecular understanding of drought-induced starch mobilization (John Bennett)

9:15-10:00    Exploiting proteomic to identify drought tolerance candidate genes (Hosseini Salekdeh)

         10:00-10:30  Break

10:30 -11:15 The impact of drought on the development and function of anthers (John Bennett)

11:15-12:00  Apomixis as a route to greater drought tolerance (John Bennett)

12:00-13:30 Lunch

13:30-14:15  Could drought tolerance in rice be enhanced by introduction of fructan biosynthesis genes from wheat? (John Bennett)

14:15-15  Conservation of stress-induced growth arrest phenomenon across plant species and developmental stages (Zahra Sadat Shobbar)

15:00-15:30  Break

15:30-17:00  Analysis of drought tolerance in barley (Michael Baum)

17:00-18:00 General Discussion        

18:00-18:30  Closing ceremony