1. PLANT BREEDING Introduction

2. Introduction
Improvements in agricultural crop production have occurred since mankind began cultivating crops for food.

3. Plant Breeding Facts
The evolution of intentional plant breeding is one of the primary reasons for the dramatic improvements that have occurred with modern crop species.
Data from FAO; Chart from Brian courtesy of Wikipedia.

4. Green Revolution
During the Green Revolution, which occurred during the 1940’s to 1960’s, high-yielding varieties of maize, wheat, and rice were developed.
Along with improved production technologies, these new crop varieties help save billons of people from starvation in underdevelopment countries.
Dr. Norman Borlaug, shown receiving the
Presidential medal of Freedom, is often
called the, “Father of the Green
Revolution”, for his work with crops in
Mexico, India, and Pakistan.
Photo by Chris Greenberg, Executive Office of the President of the United States, courtesy of Wikipedia.

5. What is plant breeding?
Plant breeding involves the selection of certain plant characteristics based on the variability of genes within a certain plant.
Successful breeding, therefore, relies on genotypic variations among individual plants within a plant species.

6. Why do you we practice plant breeding?
Scientists use plant breeding and experimentation to increase crop yields, isolate desirable plant characteristics, and influence changes within a plant species.
Photo by Scott Bauer courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service.

7. Plant Breeding
Two factors that affect the success of plant breeding are:
Environmental Conditions
Presence of Variability in
genetic material
Photo by Keith Weller courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service.

8. Factors That Influence The Selection Of Crop Cultivars
A goal of plant breeding is
to produce new crop
cultivars with improved
agronomic traits.
Photo by Keith Weller courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service.

9. AGRONOMY
What is it?
The science of soil management and crop production

10. Crop Cultivar
A crop cultivar is a subdivision of a plant species that exhibits differences in certain agronomic traits or characteristics.
Photo by Scott Bauer courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service.

11. Selecting Cultivar Process
In selecting a cultivar of crop species to cultivate, a producer considers how well adapted the cultivar is to the given environment and field conditions.
The producer also considers marketing and consumer preferences, and the cultivar’s resistance to pests and diseases.

12. Types of Plant Breeding
Plant breeders work with three identifiable types of genetically controlled traits:
Qualitative traits
Quantitative traits
Quality Enhancement traits

13. Qualitative Traits
Qualitative traits in a plant breeding program are influenced by a small number of genes.
They are not greatly influenced by the environment and they are relatively easy to manipulate.

14. Examples of Qualitative Traits
Corn endosperm color
and sorghum height are
two examples of
qualitative traits
Photo by M. Jasek.

15. Quantitative Traits
Quantitative traits in a plant breeding program are more difficult to control.
They are influenced by environment and they involve a larger number of genes and gene pairs.

16. Examples of Quantative Traits
One of the plant growers’ most important areas of crop improvement is yield and is typical of this grouping.
Photo by Garry McMichael courtesy of USDA Photography Center.

17. Quality Enhancement
Quality enhancement traits in a plant breeding program are relatively new concepts.
These traits are selected based upon value, importance to the industry, and the ease of use with modern farming technology.

18. Quality Enhancement Cont’d
Crops with quality enhancement traits, modified through breeding and biotechnology, may have:
Higher oil and/or nutrient content
Resistance to machine harvesting damage
Long shelf-life after harvesting
Resistance to Pest
Ease of industrial processing

19. Quality Enhancement Example
Comparison of a high salinity tolerant wheat hybrid (left) to a moderate salinity tolerant wheat cultivar.
Photo by Richard Wang courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service.

20. Quality Enhancement Example
Longer shelf life is an example of a quality enhancement and this illustration shows how shelf life is increased genetically by blocking the genes that cause tomatoes to soften.

21. Quality Enhancement Cont’d
Food crop cultivars with quality enhancement traits are desirable for production because they:
Are more nutritious
Are easier to harvest
Require less fertilizer and/or
pesticide during production
Produce valuable products
such as oils and proteins
Colorful carrot pigments provide beta carotenes and antioxidants that promote good health.
Photo by Stephen Ausmus courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service.