Why plant breeding matters - and why breeding methods matter more

CPSC Lecture with Head of Department and Professor Rod Snowdon, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany.

Why plant breeding matters – and why breeding methods matter more

Since the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws at the start of the 20th century and the birth of plant breeding as a science, breeding progress has vastly improved all modern crops – a few of them considerably more so than others. Nevertheless, crop breeding has arguably never been so important as it is today, in order to overcome mounting challenges to crop production posed by unprecedented human population growth, dwindling agricultural land, the uncertainties of climate change and a simultaneous need to reduce chemical inputs in agriculture. Fortunately, breeders today have access to a multitude of modern technologies that can help them to accelerate breeding progress (genetic gain) on various levels by implementing diverse innovations in genomics, phenomics, data science and biotechnology. This presentation will describe how combinations of modern technologies are vital to further advance genetic gain for yield stability, particularly in “minor” crops which so far have been largely improved only by conventional crossing and selection methods. I will also touch on why ideology-based “breeding” concepts that ignore breeding theory and reject modern breeding methods (and which sometimes find their way to governmental policy levels) are not only likely to stagnate breeding progress, but can even – in a worst-case scenario – reverse previous genetic gain and crop performance to pre-Mendelian levels.

Time: 31 March 2023, 9:00 – 10:00

Place: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/68298055506 

(passcode: CPSC)

Organizer: Copenhagen Plant Science Centre