Plant breeding for resilient pastures

Caradus, J. R.; Bouton, Joseph H.; Brummer, Charles; Faville, M.J.; George, Richard; Hume, D. E.; Inch, Courtney; Kerr, G.A.; Montel, Stephane; Stewart, Alan; Woodfield, D. R.

doi:10.33584/rps.17.2021.3441

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 141 publications

(164 reference statements)

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“…Plant breeding of white clover has occurred in most countries with temperate environments. Traditionally, plant breeding has sought to improve on-farm productivity, primarily through increased DM yield, improved feed quality, improved persistence, or a combination of these [24]. This has led to successful outcomes for both yield and clover percentage content in a grass sward [25].…”

Section: Breeding Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future breeding aims need to align with increasing environmental challenges and the regulations imposed on farming operations such as limits of nitrogen fertiliser use, protection of waterways, identification of plants that will mitigate against or be adapted to predicted climate change, and the effect this will have on plant performance, species requirements, and the resulting changes that will happen in farm systems [24].…”

Section: Future Improvementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although past breeding programs have been successful in selecting for persistence and yield [25,69], future programs will continue to focus on these traits, particularly in mixed species swards and under grazing [24]. The use of grass competition and grazing in selection trials has been important in identifying persistent and high yielding cultivars particularly when grown in stressed environments [26,39,162].…”

Section: Persistence Yield and Competitive Abilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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White Clover (Trifolium repensL.) Benefits in Grazed Pastures and Potential Improvements

Caradus¹,

Roldan²,

Voisey³

et al. 2023

Production and Utilization of Legumes - Progress and Prospects

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White clover has been, and continues to be, a valuable component of grazed pastures through improving feed quality and nutritive value, improving seasonal dry matter distribution, and providing biologically fixed nitrogen that benefits not only white clover itself but also the surrounding plants. The contribution of white clover to sustainability and environmental goals is a growing focus of breeding programs. The use of genome mapping and genotyping by sequencing to determine genetic variation and population structure in clover improvement programs needs to be expanded to improve breeding efficiencies. Seed yields also need to be improved while maintaining the selected agronomic performance traits to ensure that commercial cultivars remain cost-effective with other crops and land uses. Beneficial traits not available within the white clover genome may be provided through genetic modification and gene editing, particularly traits that contribute towards addressing challenges associated with animal nutrition and health, water quality and climate change. The inherent benefits of white clover as well as the potential for including additional beneficial traits will be described.

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Section: Breeding Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Future Improvementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Persistence Yield and Competitive Abilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

White Clover (Trifolium repensL.) Benefits in Grazed Pastures and Potential Improvements

Caradus¹,

Roldan²,

Voisey³

et al. 2023

Production and Utilization of Legumes - Progress and Prospects

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“…It is simply too new in forage cultivar development to have a record of direct impact. The New Zealand government regulatory agencies are taking an initial stand that all products produced by gene editing be considered as GMOs and no different from transgenes in terms of regulatory requirements (Caradus et al, 2021). It is not clear if this is widespread among regulatory agencies, but it needs to be thoroughly considered before investing in this technology.…”

Section: Gene Editingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forage breeding and cultivar development: A 50‐year perspective

Bouton

2023

Grassland Research

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This article represents the perspective of one retired, academic forage breeder and cultivar developer after 50 years of working experience. Developing cultivars that help farmers within pastoral agriculture is the main goal, a system where livestock is the consumer. International Grassland Congress proceedings, as well as the general literature, are historical guides for the state of forage breeding. Efficiency was achieved through technologies; better equipment for planting and harvesting; and advances in computer computation and communication. Biotechnology achievements were fitful and continue to evolve. Cultivar performance mean‐reversion, cost to the program, and what the farmer seed buyer was willing to pay are important considerations for applying any technology, especially biotechnologies. Biotech promises were too optimistic. This was due, in part, to a lack of understanding that traditional phenotypic/genotypic field selection programs operate in a complex way with multiple species and several traits screened simultaneously at a modest cost. The majority of current forage cultivars are from field‐based selection. Industry participation at scientific conferences declined over time, with less sharing of information the result. Cultivar developers will continue using basic field selection methods but should explore applying any technology; just be clever on when, how, and with whom to use them. Practical advice and experiences are also presented and discussed.

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“…Flowering dynamics and sward density are two key factors influencing ryegrass production, animal response, pasture persistence and adaptation to different environments and management. The narrow-sense heritability of heading date in perennial ryegrass is relatively high (Caradus et al, 2021). Plant breeders have used this linkage to increase diversity in heading date (later flowering) in New Zealand commercial products with positive results for DM yield and ME as outlined above.…”

Section: Reproductive Development and Tiller Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) breeding to whole pasture productivity under dairy cattle grazing in New Zealand. 2. Rates of gain in production traits and economic value

Chapman

Ludemann²,

Wims³

et al. 2022

Grass and Forage Science

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Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) plant breeding has delivered several high performing and broadly adapted cultivar‐endophyte (Epichloë) combinations for the New Zealand pasture‐based livestock industries. However, the trends in key traits and the potential economic value being added to farm systems have not previously been addressed systematically. Rates of gain in yield, nutritive value, phenological and morphological traits, and the economic value of those traits, were estimated among and within ryegrass functional groups (heading date, ploidy) traded commercially between 1973 and 2012. Whole pasture dry matter yield improvements of c. 80 and 60 kg DM/ha per year were identified in in late‐season heading diploids and tetraploids respectively. Trends in metabolisable energy were negative within functional groups, but positive when all cultivar‐endophyte combinations were included in the analysis due to the addition of tetraploids and late‐season heading diploids from the mid‐1990s. The estimated trend in overall economic value (all cultivar‐endophyte combinations included) was $7/ha per year based on DM yield only, about half the rate of gain previously estimated using small‐plot merit testing data. The trend increased to $15/ha per year when ME was included due to the emergence of commercial tetraploids from the early 2000s onwards. Estimated economic gains were high within late‐season heading diploids and tetraploids but not mid‐season diploids. These trends suggest that, if high performing cultivar‐endophyte combinations had been adopted in New Zealand dairy systems, then pasture utilization should have increased by ~1 t DM/ha above the current industry average. Reasons for this apparent discrepancy are discussed.

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Plant breeding for resilient pastures

Cited by 3 publications

References 141 publications

White Clover (Trifolium repensL.) Benefits in Grazed Pastures and Potential Improvements

White Clover (Trifolium repensL.) Benefits in Grazed Pastures and Potential Improvements

Forage breeding and cultivar development: A 50‐year perspective

The contribution of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) breeding to whole pasture productivity under dairy cattle grazing in New Zealand. 2. Rates of gain in production traits and economic value

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