Sustainability 2011, 3(8), 1190-1205; doi:10.3390/su3081190
Article

Structuring an Efficient Organic Wheat Breeding Program

P. Stephen Baenziger 1,* email, Ibrahim Salah 1 email, Richard S. Little 1 email, Dipak K. Santra 2 email, Teshome Regassa 1 email and Meng Yuan Wang 1 email
1 Agronomy and Horticulture Department, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 279 PLSH, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915, USA 2 Panhandle Research and Extension Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 4502 Avenue I, Scottsbluff, NE 69361, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 8 June 2011; in revised form: 26 July 2011 / Accepted: 2 August 2011 / Published: 5 August 2011
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Breeding for Sustainable Agriculture)
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Abstract: Our long-term goal is to develop wheat cultivars that will improve the profitability and competitiveness of organic producers in Nebraska and the Northern Great Plains. Our approach is to select in early generations for highly heritable traits that are needed for both organic and conventional production (another breeding goal), followed by a targeted organic breeding effort with testing at two organic locations (each in a different ecological region) beginning with the F6 generation. Yield analyses from replicated trials at two organic breeding sites and 7 conventional breeding sites from F6 through F12 nurseries revealed, using analyses of variance, biplots, and comparisons of selected lines that it is inappropriate to use data from conventional testing for making germplasm selections for organic production. Selecting and testing lines under organic production practices in different ecological regions was also needed and cultivar selections for organic production were different than those for conventional production. Modifications to this breeding protocol may include growing early generation bulks in an organic cropping system. In the future, our selection efforts should also focus on using state-of-the-art, non-transgenic breeding technologies (genomic selection, marker-assisted breeding, and high throughput phenotyping) to synergistically improve organic and conventional wheat breeding.
Keywords: Triticum aestivum L.; crop improvement; genetics; organic agriculture; plant breeding; conventional agriculture

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MDPI and ACS Style

Baenziger, P.S.; Salah, I.; Little, R.S.; Santra, D.K.; Regassa, T.; Wang, M.Y. Structuring an Efficient Organic Wheat Breeding Program. Sustainability 2011, 3, 1190-1205.

AMA Style

Baenziger PS, Salah I, Little RS, Santra DK, Regassa T, Wang MY. Structuring an Efficient Organic Wheat Breeding Program. Sustainability. 2011; 3(8):1190-1205.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Baenziger, P. Stephen; Salah, Ibrahim; Little, Richard S.; Santra, Dipak K.; Regassa, Teshome; Wang, Meng Yuan. 2011. "Structuring an Efficient Organic Wheat Breeding Program." Sustainability 3, no. 8: 1190-1205.

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