scholarly journals State Priekuļi Plant Breeding Institute – A Century of Agricultural Research and Plant Breeding

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-295
Author(s):  
Gunta Bebre ◽  
Maija Gaiķe ◽  
Ilze Skrabule ◽  
Vita Gaiķe ◽  
Arta Kronberga
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Crop Management ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Barley Variety ◽  
Winter Rye ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Plant Breeding Institute

The State Priekuïi Plant Breeding Institute (previously Wenden, Cçsis or Priekuïi Experimental and Breeding Station) started its operation in 1913. The main aims of research have remained the same for the last century: to provide knowledge on crop management and to create crop varieties suitable to local growing conditions and farming systems, acceptable to consumer requirements. Supply to farmers of high quality seed material of cereals, potato, pea, clover and grasses is an essential part of the scope. Overall, 31 crop species have been involved in a wide range of studies. More than 100 different crop varieties have been bred since the beginning of the 20th century. Potato varieties ‘Brasla’, ‘Agrie Dzeltenie’, winter rye variety ‘Kaupo’, pea varieties ‘Vitra’, ‘Retrija’, barley variety ‘Idumeja’ and several clover and grass varieties are widely grown in farmers’ fields. The first hulless barley variety in the Baltic States, ‘Irbe’, and winter triticale variety ‘Inarta’ have been bred in the Institute recently. Long-term crop rotation trials have been run for more than 50 years. A number of outstanding scientists and agronomists have worked in the Institute: potato breeders E. Knappe and V. Gaujers, cereal breeders J. Lindermanis, M. Gaiíe, and M. Sovere, grass breeders P. Pommers, A. Apinis, and I. Holms, pea breeder M. Vitjaþkova, researchers on crop management R. Sniedze and V. Miíelsons, research manager and director U. Miglavs and others

George Douglas Hutton Bell. 18 October 1905 – 27 June 1993

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 35-38
Author(s):  
Ralph Riley ◽  
John Enderby
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Wheat Variety ◽  
Barley Grain ◽  
Wheat Breeding ◽  
Malting Quality ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Plant Breeding Institute ◽  
The Government

Douglas Bell was the doyen of British plant breeders. He worked to turn what was previously a craft that made some use of science into a science–based technology.Having taken a first–class honours degree at the University College of Wales (Bangor), Bell went to the Cambridge University Plant Breeding Institute in 1928. There he worked under the supervision of F. L. (later Sir Frank) Engledow (FRS 1946). His PhD research concerned genetic variability in barley varieties, and barley remained his principal interest henceforth. At the height of his powers Bell was able rapidly to assess the agricultural potential of wide arrays of genetically distinct lines. This was based on keen observation and the ability to discriminate among many characteristics simultaneously. It often seemed like intuition. At the same time he was a keen judge of the malting quality of barley grain and was often called on to exercise his skill in competitions.After completing the PhD requirements, Bell continued to work with Engledow in the Cambridge School of Agriculture, first as a demonstrator and then as a lecturer. Generations of students praised the clarity of his lectures. From Engledow he inherited an interest in the components of yield in cereals. Starting with the number of ears per plant, spikelets per ear, grains per spikelet and grain weight he became interested in the physiology of yield. This subsequently led him to promote attempts to use physiological characteristics to predict yielding ability in the selection of new varieties. Also during this period Bell assisted Engledow in wheat breeding, work that resulted in the development of the breadmaking winter–wheat variety Holdfast.Bell's leadership in plant breeding came to its full realization when he became Director of the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI), Cambridge, in 1947. The government had decided in the immediate postwar period to expand agricultural research in the UK. Numbers of free–standing research establishments were created with the general responsibility for them vested in the Agricultural Research Council. Under these arrangements the PBI was separated from Cambridge University. As Director, Bell together with the governing body set a policy for the institute. It was then his responsibility to choose a site (Trumpington, Cambridge), recruit a staff and plan the buildings and facilities including the farm.

DANKO WINTER RYE

1986 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 997-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. LANGILLE ◽  
H. G. NASS ◽  
J. S. BUBAR ◽  
R. W. JONES ◽  
R. B. WALTON
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Secale Cereale ◽  
Kernel Weight ◽  
Winter Survival ◽  
Winter Rye ◽  
Lodging Resistance ◽  
Plant Breeding Institute ◽  
Secale Cereale L ◽  
Cultivar Description ◽  
Breeder Seed

Danko is a winter rye (Secale cereale L.) cultivar with higher yield, better lodging resistance and winter survival and higher kernel weight and test weight than Animo and Kustro, the current most commonly grown cultivars in the Maritimes. It was developed at the Polish Plant Breeding Institute, Poznan, Poland where breeder seed will be maintained. Seed will be distributed by King Grain Ltd.Key words: Secale cereale L., rye (winter), cultivar description

scholarly journals Repeated evolution of salt-tolerance in grasses

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 20130029 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Bennett ◽  
T. J. Flowers ◽  
L. Bromham
Keyword(s):  
Salt Tolerance ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Salt Tolerant ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
Tolerant Species ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Repeated Evolution ◽  
Salt Affected Soils

The amount of salt-affected agricultural land is increasing globally, so new crop varieties are needed that can grow in salt-affected soils. Despite concerted effort to develop salt-tolerant cereal crops, few commercially viable salt-tolerant crops have been released. This is puzzling, given the number of naturally salt-tolerant grass species. To better understand why salt-tolerance occurs naturally but is difficult to breed into crop species, we take a novel, biodiversity-based approach to its study, examining the evolutionary lability of salt-tolerance across the grass family. We analyse the phylogenetic distribution of naturally salt-tolerant species on a phylogeny of 2684 grasses, and find that salt-tolerance has evolved over 70 times, in a wide range of grass lineages. These results are confirmed by repeating the analysis at genus level on a phylogeny of over 800 grass genera. While salt-tolerance evolves surprisingly often, we find that its evolution does not often give rise to a large clade of salt-tolerant species. These results suggest that salt-tolerance is an evolutionarily labile trait in grasses.

Nuclear instability and its manipulation in plant breeding

1981 ◽  
Vol 292 (1062) ◽  
pp. 475-485 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Endosperm Development ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
Nuclear Stability ◽  
Evolution Understanding

Nuclear instability occurs spontaneously in a typically very small proportion of cells of every individual, even in crop varieties. Of greatest interest to the cereal breeder are instabilities in the germ line, which produce off-types among progeny, or in the endosperm, which reduce grain quality. Nuclear instabilities in crop plants merit cytological investigation for several reasons: first, to ensure that biologically possible standards of genetical purity are set for varieties in agriculture; secondly, because once understood, nuclear instability may be usefully applied in plant breeding; thirdly, because nuclear instability is thought to have played a major role in crop plant evolution - understanding the past may help in predicting which new genome combinations will be successful crop species; fourthly, because failure to achieve adequate nuclear stability has played a major role in preventing so many potentially useful plants from becoming crops. These points are illustrated mainly by reference to three different nuclear instabilities, namely: (1) haploid barley production by genome elimination in some Hordeum vulgare x H. bulbosum crosses; (2) the action of the tri gene in barley to produce about 50% diploid embryo sacs; (3) aberrant endosperm development in hexaploid triticale. Improved seed type in triticale has been achieved by a controlled reduction in rye telomeric heterochromatin. This approach may open the way for a new type of plant breeding, selecting for nucleotypic variation in the amount of non-coding DNA sequences. Understanding the cellular mechanisms responsible for nuclear stability (or instability) is essential if controlled plant modification based on precise nuclear engineering is to become possible. This understanding can come only from sustained fundamental research.

scholarly journals Exploring the emergence of participatory plant breeding in countries of the Global North – a review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
M. R. Colley ◽  
J. C. Dawson ◽  
C. McCluskey ◽  
J. R. Myers ◽  
W. F. Tracy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Participatory Plant Breeding ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Crop Genetic Diversity ◽  
Global North

Abstract Participatory plant breeding (PPB), commonly applied in the Global South to address the needs of underserved farmers, refers to the active collaboration between researchers, farmers and other actors throughout the breeding process. In spite of significant public and private investments in crop variety improvement in the Global North, PPB is increasingly utilized as an approach to address cropping system needs. The current study conducted a state-of-the-art review, including a comprehensive inventory of projects and five case studies, to explore the emergence of PPB in the Global North and inform future PPB efforts. Case studies included maize (Zea mays), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Brassica crops (Brassica oleracea), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and potato (Solanum tuberosum). The review identified 47 projects across the United States, Canada and Europe including 22 crop species representing diverse crop biology. Improved adaptation to organic farming systems and addressing principles and values of organic agriculture emerged as consistent themes. While projects presented evidence that PPB has expanded crop diversity and farmer's access to improved varieties, obstacles to PPB also emerged including challenges in sustained funding as well as addressing regulatory barriers to the commercial distribution of PPB varieties. Agronomic improvements were only one lens motivating PPB, with many projects identifying goals of conservation of crop genetic diversity, farmers' seed sovereignty and avoidance of certain breeding techniques. The authors conclude that a multidisciplinary approach is needed to fully understand the social, political and agroecological influences driving the emergence of projects in the Global North and factors impacting success.

Formation and composition of training flax collection

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
L.M. Kryvosheieva ◽  
V.I. Chuchvaha ◽  
N.M. Kandyba
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Gene Pool ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Economic Traits ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of

Aim. Based on the results of multi-year research into the flax gene pool, to form a flax training collection to provide breeding scientific organizations and educational institutions with collection samples as well as with information about the bast crop gene pool. Results and Discussion. The studies were conducted in the crop rotation fields for breeding and seed production of the Institute of Bast Crops of the NAAS (Hlukhiv, Sumska Oblast) in 1992-2018. The field measurements and laboratory analyses were carried out in accordance with conventional methods of field and laboratory studies of collection flax samples.The article presents the results on the formation of a training collection of flax at the Institute of Bast Crops of the NAAS, which has 117 accessions (11 botanical species and three varieties) from 22 countries. In addition to species diversity, the collection includes accessions with different levels of expression of valuable economic and biological characteristics. It also includes accessions selected by phenotypic variability of individual characters or their combinations. The multi-year research into the flax collection accessions resulted in identification of sources of highly-expressed valuable economic traits, which are of interest for the plant breeding course. The history of flax breeding in Ukraine is shown, where breeding varieties that are most widespread or were significant breeding achievements in solving certain problems, are presented. The collection can be used as a visual aid for the plant breeding course in educational programs; in addition, it can provide starting material for scientific and educational institutions. The collection is registered with the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources of Ukraine (certificate No. 00273 dated 04/11/2019). Conclusions. The studies of accessions from the national flax collection allowed us to build up a training collection and register it with the NCPGRU. The collection represents a wide range of biological and economic features of the gene pool of this crop. The collection can be used in the educational process of educational agricultural and biological institutions. The multi-year research into the national flax collection resulted in identification of sources of highly-expressed valuable economic traits, which are of interest to the plant breeding course. The history of flax breeding in Ukraine got covered, and breeding varieties that are most widespread or were significant breeding achievements in solving certain problems are presented.

scholarly journals Silicon Effects on the Root System of Diverse Crop Species Using Root Phenotyping Technology

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 885
Author(s):  
Pooja Tripathi ◽  
Sangita Subedi ◽  
Abdul Latif Khan ◽  
Yong-Suk Chung ◽  
Yoonha Kim
Keyword(s):  
Root System ◽  
Root Morphology ◽  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Wide Range

Roots play an essential function in the plant life cycle, as they utilize water and essential nutrients to promote growth and plant productivity. In particular, root morphology characteristics (such as length, diameter, hairs, and lateral growth) and the architecture of the root system (spatial configuration in soil, shape, and structure) are the key elements that ensure growth and a fine-tuned response to stressful conditions. Silicon (Si) is a ubiquitous element in soil, and it can affect a wide range of physiological processes occurring in the rhizosphere of various crop species. Studies have shown that Si significantly and positively enhances root morphological traits, including root length in rice, soybean, barley, sorghum, mustard, alfalfa, ginseng, and wheat. The analysis of these morphological traits using conventional methods is particularly challenging. Currently, image analysis methods based on advanced machine learning technologies allowed researchers to screen numerous samples at the same time considering multiple features, and to investigate root functions after the application of Si. These methods include root scanning, endoscopy, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional imaging, which can measure Si uptake, translocation and root morphological traits. Small variations in root morphology and architecture can reveal different positive impacts of Si on the root system of crops, with or without exposure to stressful environmental conditions. This review comprehensively illustrates the influences of Si on root morphology and root architecture in various crop species. Furthermore, it includes recommendations in regard to advanced methods and strategies to be employed to maintain sustainable plant growth rates and crop production in the currently predicted global climate change scenarios.

Private Agricultural R&D: Do the Poor Benefit?

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jock R. Anderson ◽  
Regina Birner ◽  
Latha Najarajan ◽  
Anwar Naseem ◽  
Carl E. Pray
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Agricultural Research And Development ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Private agricultural research and development can foster the growth of agricultural productivity in the diverse farming systems of the developing world comparable to the public sector. We examine the extent to which technologies developed by private entities reach smallholder and resource-poor farmers, and the impact they have on poverty reduction. We critically review cases of successfully deployed improved agricultural technologies delivered by the private sector in both large and small developing countries for instructive lessons for policy makers around the world.

scholarly journals Combining metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches to assess and improve crop quality traits

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Delphine M. Pott ◽  
Sara Durán-Soria ◽  
Sonia Osorio ◽  
José G. Vallarino
Keyword(s):  
Quality Trait ◽  
Quality Traits ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Breeding Programs ◽  
Crop Quality ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
New Genes ◽  
Technical Advances ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractPlant quality trait improvement has become a global necessity due to the world overpopulation. In particular, producing crop species with enhanced nutrients and health-promoting compounds is one of the main aims of current breeding programs. However, breeders traditionally focused on characteristics such as yield or pest resistance, while breeding for crop quality, which largely depends on the presence and accumulation of highly valuable metabolites in the plant edible parts, was left out due to the complexity of plant metabolome and the impossibility to properly phenotype it. Recent technical advances in high throughput metabolomic, transcriptomic and genomic platforms have provided efficient approaches to identify new genes and pathways responsible for the extremely diverse plant metabolome. In addition, they allow to establish correlation between genotype and metabolite composition, and to clarify the genetic architecture of complex biochemical pathways, such as the accumulation of secondary metabolites in plants, many of them being highly valuable for the human diet. In this review, we focus on how the combination of metabolomic, transcriptomic and genomic approaches is a useful tool for the selection of crop varieties with improved nutritional value and quality traits.

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