Recurrent Selection and Participatory Plant Breeding for Improvement of Two Organic Open-Pollinated Sweet Corn (Zea mays L.) Populations

Abstract

Organic growers face unique challenges when raising sweet corn, and benefit from varieties that maintain high eating quality, germinate consistently, deter insect pests, and resist diseases. Genotype by environment rank changes can occur in the performance of cultivars grown on conventional and organic farms, yet few varieties have been bred specifically for organic systems. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the changes made to open-pollinated sweet corn populations using recurrent selection and a participatory plant breeding (PPB) methodology. From 2008 to 2011, four cycles of two open-pollinated (OP) sweet corn populations were selected on a certified organic farm in Minnesota using a modified ear-to-row recurrent selection scheme. Selections were made in collaboration with an organic farmer, with selection criteria based on traits identified by the farmer. In 2012 and 2013, the population cycles were evaluated in a randomized complete block design in two certified organic locations in Wisconsin, with multiple replications in each environment. Significant linear trends were found among cycles of selection for quantitative and qualitative traits, suggesting the changes were due to recurrent selection and PPB methodology for these populations. However, further improvement is necessary to satisfy the requirements for a useful cultivar for organic growers.

Concepts and Strategies of Organic Plant Breeding in Light of Novel Breeding Techniques

“…Such can be powerful and cost efficient approaches for developing a diverse assortment of locally adapted and open pollinated cultivars for a large range of crops [86,89,90], with the possibility to achieve equal or higher yield compared to modern high yielding F1 hybrids due to optimized use of local/regional adaptation [91]. An example is the case of open pollinated sweet corn development in USA [92]. The role of farmer seed networks in conservation of agro-biodiversity and the development of new genetic diversity and varieties in that way contributing to local food security was highlighted in various studies across the world, including developed and developing countries [93][94][95].…”

Enhancing the rate of genetic gain in public-sector plant breeding programs: lessons from the breeder’s equation

“…As such, genetic variance for an economically important trait within clearly elite breeding material is much more valuable to a breeder than is genetic variation per se. Recurrent selection schemes focused on recycling the best genetics in a closed breeding system have been demonstrated to produce high rates of genetic gain (Breseghello et al 2009 ; Shelton et al 2015 ), and some of the most successful plant breeding programs in the private-sector currently manage their genetic diversity in this way (Smith et al 2015 ). These programs either impose strict rules about parent choice or use a closed recurrent selection approach without overlapping generations to ensure that the parents of each new breeding cycle have higher additive breeding value than the last.…”

Introgressing Subgenome Components from Brassica rapa and B. carinata to B. juncea for Broadening Its Genetic Base and Exploring Intersubgenomic Heterosis

“…These traits could be further improved via recurrent selection, which has been demonstrated to be an efficient means of population improvement in crops (Hallauer and Carena, 2012; de Morais et al, 2015; Shelton and Tracy, 2015). Additionally, favorable traits from two different groups of traditional B. juncea (Pradhan et al, 1993; Chen et al, 2013) and exotic genome components from B. napus (A n A n C n C n ) (which has been intensively improved by modern breeding and is most widely grown as an oilseed Brassica crop) can be introgressed into the pool via recurrent selection.…”