In the interest of diversifying the global food system, improving human nutrition, and making agriculture more sustainable, there have been many proposals to domesticate wild plants or complete the domestication of semidomesticated orphan crops. However, very few new crops have recently been fully domesticated. Many wild plants have traits limiting their production or consumption that could be costly and slow to change. Others may have fortuitous preadaptations that make them easier to develop or feasible as high‐value, albeit low‐yielding, crops. To increase success in contemporary domestication of new crops, we propose a pipeline approach, with attrition expected as species advance through the pipeline. We list criteria for ranking domestication candidates to help enrich the starting pool with more preadapted, promising species. We also discuss strategies for prioritizing initial research efforts once the candidates have been selected: developing higher value products and services from the crop, increasing yield potential, and focusing on overcoming undesirable traits. Finally, we present new‐crop case studies that demonstrate that wild species’ limitations and potential (in agronomic culture, shattering, seed size, harvest, cleaning, hybridization, etc.) are often only revealed during the early phases of domestication. When nearly insurmountable barriers were reached in some species, they have been (at least temporarily) eliminated from the pipeline. Conversely, a few species have moved quickly through the pipeline as hurdles, such as low seed weight or low seed number per head, were rapidly overcome, leading to increased confidence, farmer collaboration, and program expansion.

Production agriculture relies primarily on seeding of annual crops for food, feed, fuel and fibre in western Canada. Annual seeding and harvesting commonly leave land non-productive for a portion of the year. There is the potential for both soil and nutrient loss from this unused land base, and as important, we are missing the potential for photosynthesis. Capture of carbon in these off-season times may aid in carbon sequestration. Forage production (feed) relies on an animal market for its consumption. Forage seed production in Canada, accounts for approximately 65,000 ha year -1 , and is almost exclusively located in western Canada. It is unlikely however that forage seed production area will dramatically increase due to limited markets. Perennial grains could greatly increase the land area dedicated to perennial seed production and provide alternative markets to forage products and forage seed. Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Bark. & Dewey) (Kernza TM ) is the perennial grain closest to release and some potential niche markets are currently emerging. Improvement has been made through selection for grain production on individual plants for characteristics that are likely of importance at field scale production. Agronomic packages for intermediate wheatgrass production are lacking, although forage seed production agronomy will guide this development.Agronomic benefits attributed both to perennial seed production and the inclusion of perennials in cropping systems will be greatly enhanced when the potential for perennial grain production (breeding and agronomy) is realized.Key Words: forage seed, perennial grains, agronomy, perennial crop cycle. The IssueAnnual production agriculture does not take full advantage of the opportunity to capture the solar energy during the growing season in the temperate areas of western Canada.Planting annuals in the spring after the threat of killing frosts have passed is standard for most crops, with winter annuals being an obvious exception (see Larsen et al., this issue). The land area is either left as is post-harvest (e.g. for zero-till establishment or spring tillage) or is subjected to mechanical disturbance. While this disturbance can have agronomic benefits such as aiding in the fall germination of seed that escaped harvest and in seedbank depletion (Geddes and Gulden 2017), it leaves the area susceptible to both nutrient loss and soil erosion.In most of Canada much of the early and late season solar energy is not, or is grossly under-utilized on agricultural land. For example, at the University of Manitoba Ian N. MorrisonResearch Farm at Carman MB, there were 65.7, 26.6, 84.3, 184.4, and 128.9 accumulated growing degrees day (GDD), base T 0°C, in April for the years 2012-2016, respectively (Table 1). This is in general below the 1991-2010 20-year average. September has had a higher than average GDD accumulation in the years 2012-2016 and rainfall has been above average for three of the past five years (Table 1). October has also had highe...

Perennial grains are demonstrating a greater probability of occupying land currently dedicated to other agricultural production. Arable land that is currently in use for forage or annual crop production becomes utilized. Breeding materials for the introduction of perennial grains directly into the human food chain has required utilizing existing plant materials in the domestication of species or manufacturing diverse crosses to introduce perenniality into existing crops. In the domestication of intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium (Host), Barkworth and Dewey), existing forage cultivars or plant accessions were used to develop populations selected for grain production. A comparison of Cycle 3 materials from The Land Institute (TLI), Salina, KS, USA to USDA-Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) accessions took place under space-planted field conditions at Carman, MB, Canada from 2011 to 2014. One hundred plants (75 TLI and 25 GRIN identified in May 2012) were followed through three seed harvests cycles with phenological, morphological and agronomic traits measured throughout. Selection for seed productivity (TLI materials) reduced the importance of biomass plant −1 on seed yield plant −1 , leading to an increase in harvest index. Principal component analysis demonstrated the separation of the germplasm sources and the differential impact of years on the performance of all accessions. Path coefficient analysis also indicated that plant biomass production was of less importance on seed yield plant −1 in the TLI materials. Analysis removing area plant −1 as a factor increased both the importance of biomass and heads on seed yield cm −2 in the TLI materials, especially in the first two seed production years. Plant differences due to selection appear to have reduced overall plant area and increased harvest index in the TLI materials, indicating progress for grain yield under selection. However, a greater understanding of the dynamics within a seed production field is needed to provide insight into the development of more effective selection criteria for long-term field level production.

Parallels exist between the domestication of new species and the improvement of various crops through selection on traits which favor the sowing, harvest and retention of yield potential and the directed efforts to improve their agronomics, disease resistance and quality characteristics. Common selection pressures may result in the parallel selection of orthologs underlying these traits and homologies between crop species can be exploited by plant breeders to improve germplasm. Perennial grains and oilseeds are a class of proposed crops for improving the diversity and sustainability of agricultural systems. Maximilian sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani Schrad.) is a perennial crop wild relative of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and a candidate perennial oilseed species. Understanding parallels between cultivated H. annuus and H. maximiliani may provide new tools for the development of Maximilian sunflower and other wild relatives of sunflower as crops to enhance functional diversity in cropping systems. F 2 populations of Maximilian sunflower segregating for traits associated with the domestication ideotype of cultivated sunflower including branching architecture, capitulum morphology and flowering time were developed to investigate parallels between H. maximiliani and H. annuus. Genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) was employed to genotype novel Maximilian sunflower populations and perform quantitative-trait-loci (QTL) analysis. A total of 11 QTL in five regions were identified across 21 linkage groups using 4142 GBS derived single nucleotide polymorphism markers called using the sunflower reference genome as a guide. A major QTL on linkage group 17b, associated with aspects of floral development and apical dominance, was discovered and corresponds with a known domestication QTL hotspot in H. annuus and candidate genes were identified. This suggests the potential to exploit orthologs for neo-domestication of H. maximiliani for traits such as branching architecture, timing of anthesis, and capitulum size and morphology for the development of a perennial oilseed crop from wild relatives of cultivated sunflower.