Germplasm enhancement and cultivar development: The need for sustainable breeding

Abstract

Farmers need sustainable cultivars to increase food supply and value with less production land, animals, and inputs. Next generation plant and animal breeders face climate change adaptation and mitigation challenges. These challenges need to be addressed with opportunities for significant reduction of environmental impact developing cultivars less addicted to fertilizers and soil moisture needs. Sustainable breeding can help balance agriculture with the environment. Sustainable breeders need to integrate long-term pre-breeding activities with cultivar development efforts providing farmers options to comply with environmental regulations. Good choice of germplasm is still the most important decision. The most sophisticated tools will have limited success if poor choices of germplasm are made. Seed companies need capable breeders developing the next generation of sustainable cultivars while public institutions need to mentor sustainable breeders capable to not only broadening and improving unique germplasm but also developing new cultivars carrying desirable traits. Graduates mentored in breeding programs integrating these needs will be selected for industry jobs without need for re-training. Sustainable breeders will need to operate in new breeding centers located in strategic environments for faster genetic improvement ahead of climate changes. Key factors for developing useful and unique sustainable cultivars will be the adaptation of exotic germplasm and the maximization of its genetic improvement before cultivar development through public and private partnerships. Inbreeding, genetic divergence, and reciprocal recurrent selection programs will continue to be essential to purify cultivars and exploit heterosis in economically important species.

Driving Sustainable Popcorn Breeding for Drought Tolerance in Brazil

“…one billion dollars annually, and there is also a high demand for this product in Brazil (Carvalho et al, 2020). As such, traditional maize has several examples of integrating pre-breeding with cultivar development for drought tolerance (Carena et al, 2009;Carena, 2011Carena, , 2013Carena, , 2021Sharma and Carena, 2016). However, there is a deficit of popcorn cultivars adapted to soil water stress, although the first steps have already been taken (Lima et al, 2019;Kamphorst et al, 2020bKamphorst et al, , 2021Santos et al, 2020;Leite et al, 2021).…”

“…Historically, plant breeding has been used to develop cultivars for optimal environmental conditions. Water-and nutrient-use efficiency and/or tolerance have never been targeted before for selection, given that the experimental stations of seed companies do not experience these limitations (Carena, 2021). However, the scenario is different in Brazilian farmlands where no expensive and efficient irrigation systems can be found (Carvalho et al, 2020;Zilli et al, 2020).…”

Analysis of the genetic structure and diversity of a Brazilian macadamia nut (Macadamia integrifolia) germplasm

“…Currently, only 1% of the Australian rainforest is preserved and restricted into fragments (Sobierajski 2019). This scenario emphasizes the importance of well-characterized ex situ germplasms (Busanello et al 2020, Guan et al 2020, Carena 2021. The genetic variation existing in germplasms can provide genes for resistance to pests, diseases and adaptation to climate changes (Topp et al 2019, Carena 2021.…”