2#Plant Breeding Innovation

Put simply, plant breeding improves plants in order to grow better crops with desired characteristics. We have been improving plants for thousands of years – long before breeding existed as a formal discipline. Plant breeding is based on this long history of experience, and the tools that help to achieve these improvements continue to evolve […]

Plant breeding lets us adapt plants so we can maintain and increase productivity and improve product qualities considering changing climatic, agricultural and market conditions. Plant breeding has significantly contributed to reducing environmental footprint of plant production, increasing the diversity of products and improving the economic situation of agriculture.   The continued development of new varieties

Plant breeders develop new plant varieties by improving and combining different useful characteristics. For farmers, these characteristics may be disease resistance or drought tolerance; for consumers, nutritional quality, flavour or appearance; for food manufacturers and retailers, baking quality or shelf life. Today’s plant breeders integrate knowledge from a range of scientific disciplines, such as plant

Since the first seed was planted, farmers selected and grew the best and heartiest crops from one year to the next. As the world and science progressed, plant breeding developed into a formal discipline with breeders continuing to have a better understanding of plants and the breeding process. Among the scientific breakthroughs, the following three

‘Plant breeding innovation’ is the term used by the international seed sector and plant scientists worldwide to describe the continuous evolution of plant breeding methods. Breeders use many methods in their breeding programs to increase genetic variability, increase breeding efficiency and evaluate their breeding materials. Today’s innovations in plant breeding utilize sophisticated methods and disciplines,

With a global population that is estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050 (according to www.world.population.co.uk), and increasingly scarce arable land, one of the most significant benefits of plant breeding innovation is supporting sustainable agriculture and food security. Plant breeding has always played an important role in adapting crops to meet new and evolving demands.

Agriculture involves a series of choices, which are necessary to balance environmental impacts, farmers’ livelihoods, and the need to grow more food for the growing world population in a sustainable way. When farmers can choose seeds most adapted to their land and farming system, it raises the likelihood of better yields. Diversity of seed choices

Plant breeders have a long track record of developing high-quality and safe varieties. A defining feature of plant breeding is the extensive and rigorous official and private testing of candidate varieties to ensure the release of new products that meet breeding objectives for better quality and taste, agronomic performance, climate resilience or harvestability and processing.

One of the latest innovations in plant breeding is gene editing.  Gene editing is a group of methods that enables plant breeders to make precise changes to the plant’s own genetic material (DNA), which can improve their productivity and sustainability. The genetic variation made with gene editing often mirrors changes that could occur in nature

Gene editing is part of the continuum of plant breeding innovation and builds on years of scientific advances and the increased understanding of plant genetics. Gene editing allows breeders to work within a plant’s own gene pool to reach the same endpoint as they would through more traditional breeding methods–but with greater precision and efficiency

Yes. As of early 2022 there are two gene edited products commercially available include soybeans, lettuce, and tomato. The first product, a high oleic soybean, was launched in 2019 and it was marketed in the Upper Midwest United States. In 2021, a gene-edited tomato was commercialized in Japan. The tomato contains high levels of gamma-aminobutyric

No. Plant breeding innovation is based on accumulated knowledge and experience over hundreds of years. Gene editing is an additional tool in the plant breeder’s toolbox that is used to generate genetic variation that is needed to develop new plant varieties with characteristics to address environmental and consumer needs. The development of newer plant breeding