To examine the challenges facing wheat breeders more closely, Singh and Byerlee (1990) analysed wheat yield variability in 57 countries over 35 years. Yield variability was measured by calculating coefficients of variation of yield around linear climatic trends. The amount and distribution of rainfall was the predominant factor influencing yield variability. Countries in which half the wheat was sown in dryland conditions experienced twice as much variability as countries in which wheat was mostly grown under well-watered conditions. At least 60 m ha of wheat is grown in marginal rain-fed environments in developing countries. National average yields in these regions range from 0.8 to 1.5 t ha−1, which represents approximately 10–50 percent of their theoretical irrigated potential (Morris et al., 1991).