Plant breeding can be made more efficient by having fewer, better crosses.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Crop yields have to increase to provide food security for the world's growing population. To achieve these yield increases there will have to be a significant contribution from genetic gains made by conventional plant breeding. However, the breeding process is not efficient because crosses made between parental combinations that fail to produce useful varieties consume over 99% of the resources.

Results

We tested in a rice-breeding programme if its efficiency could be improved by using many fewer, but more judiciously chosen crosses than usual. In a 15-year programme in Nepal, with varietal testing also in India and Bangladesh, we made only six crosses that were stringently chosen on complementary parental performance. We evaluated their success by the adoption an

SUBMITTER: Witcombe JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3621587 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature