5^th International Plant Breeding Congress

Closing and Final Declaration

“A Shared Scientific Vision for the Future of Agriculture”

The 5th International Plant Breeding Congress, successfully held in Antalya on 1–5 December 2025 under the auspices of the Turkish Seed Union (TÜRKTOB) and hosted by the Plant Breeders Sub-Union (BİSAB), has been completed with distinguished scientific content, strong international participation, and strategic outputs. Bringing together eminent scientists from 21 countries, the congress provided a rigorous scientific framework for discussing the most critical challenges and priorities of the agricultural sector.

This year’s congress, organized under the theme “Innovations in Plant Breeding for Regional and Global Food Security,” comprehensively evaluated the risks affecting agricultural production systems on a global scale and focused on developing holistic, applicable, and future-oriented solutions to these challenges.

Scientific Participation and Scope

A total of 370 scientists attended the congress.

Across 26 scientific sessions, 12 distinguished invited speakers presented cutting-edge research, while 218 scientific papers—including 135 oral and 83 poster presentations—were shared by researchers.

Distribution of presentations:

• Field Crops Breeding: 118
• Horticultural Crops Breeding: 83
• Seed Science & Technology: 3
• Other Topics: 14

The 35 oral and 43 poster presentations delivered by international participants reaffirmed the congress’s status as a reputable, high-quality global scientific platform.

Within the scope of the 100^th Anniversary of Plant Breeding Research in Türkiye, developments in both public and private sectors were extensively reviewed, highlighting Turkey’s historical legacy, accumulated expertise, and emerging needs in plant breeding and seed science.

Interactive mini-conferences with invited speakers fostered dynamic discussions, providing young researchers and breeders with an engaging environment to explore applied research solutions.

Key Scientific Findings and Core Evaluations

The presented studies clearly demonstrated the capacity of plant breeding to adapt to the emerging global challenges of agricultural transformation. Five central themes emerged from the contributions:

1. Climate-Resilient Varieties

Developing varieties tolerant to temperature fluctuations, late frosts, drought, salinity, and increasing pest–disease pressures is indispensable for sustaining future food security.

2. Molecular Breeding and Genomic Technologies

Genome editing, digital phenotyping, AI-supported data analytics, and accelerated breeding pipelines have become essential components of next-generation breeding programs.

3. Strategic Biotechnological Approaches

Hybrid breeding technologies, biofortification strategies, and biotechnology-based methods were highlighted as key tools for improving yield potential, adaptation capacity, and nutritional quality.

4. Conservation and Utilization of Genetic Resources

The preservation, diversification, and efficient integration of local varieties and wild relatives into breeding programs were identified as core elements of both regional and global food security.

5. Sustainable Production Systems

Developing varieties that optimize resource use, require fewer inputs, and contribute to environmentally friendly production systems was emphasized as a necessary direction for future agricultural models.

Technological Advances and Stakeholder Contributions

The integration of new breeding technologies, AI-driven modeling tools, and advanced phenotyping sensors into breeding pipelines was identified as a priority research area for enhancing time and cost efficiency.

Discussions also emphasized the importance of training future generations of breeders through education models integrated with biotechnology, data science, and digital agriculture infrastructures.

The contributions of sponsor companies and the progress demonstrated by private-sector breeding organizations underscored the strengthening of public–private–academic collaboration. All sponsor institutions were sincerely acknowledged for their support.

Strategic Outputs: A Collective Call to Action

Strategic insights aligned with the congress theme were framed as follows:

• Plant breeding once again proved to be a critical scientific discipline for sustaining food security and enhancing nutritional quality through biofortification.
• Developing varieties tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses, with high adaptation capacity, remains imperative in combating climate change.
• The integration of advanced genomic, biotechnological, and AI-based tools into breeding programs holds strategic value for improving efficiency and accelerating breeding cycles.
• Strengthening international cooperation, facilitating the exchange of plant genetic resources, and supporting joint research initiatives are essential objectives for global food security.
• The conservation of genetic diversity constitutes a safeguard for humanity’s long-term food security.
• Reinforcing collaboration among the public sector, private sector, and academia will enable Türkiye to integrate its century-long breeding heritage with next-generation technologies, significantly enhancing national agricultural competitiveness.

We extend our wishes that the outcomes of this congress bring value to our country, our region, and global agriculture.

We look forward to reconvening under the guidance of science at the 6th International Plant Breeding Congress, to be held in 2029.

With our best regards,

The Organizing Committee of Congress