Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
undertake research in plant breeding methodol-
ogy. In reality, relatively few countries have uni-
versities that can train the next generation of plant
breeders (Morris et al., 2006).
Returning to the appropriate roles for public
and private wheat breeding, the public sector
should be careful not to harm the private sector.
A successful private-sector plant breeding effort
should be viewed as a triumph in market-based
economies, because it can free up public resources
for other public needs and, through its taxes,
support plant breeding research. However,
because plant breeding research is validated by
successful products, public plant breeders often
compete with private breeders to the detriment of
the latter. Many public plant breeding programs
fund their research, in part, through commercial
arrangements (research and development fees)
which are similar to the royalties that private-
sector companies charge. With this commercial
orientation, the differences between the public
and private sector have blurred to the point that
public research priorities sometimes become
skewed to the commercial release of cultivars to
the detriment of the public sector's role in educat-
ing the next generation of plant breeders or devel-
oping new public knowledge on plant breeding
methodology or developing novel genetic
resources. In fact, the surest way to be privatized
may be for the public sector to become so similar
to the private sector in its goals that both sectors
appear indistiguishable. With commercial success,
public sector programs become a target for
privatization.
Farmer organizations that wish to invest in the
genetics of their crops are looking at quasi-non-
governmental organizations. These organizations
become a private-public partenership to deliver
fi eld-ready cultivars. Alternatively producer orga-
nizations might contract with a public institution
to breed wheat cultivars. Gray and Malla (2007),
citing studies on rates of return in agricultural
research, reported a 4.6 : 1 benefi t-costs ratio on
producer levies to fund wheat cultivar develop-
ment in Canada.
While discussion on the most appropriate role
for the public and private sectors in wheat breed-
ing will continue for years to come, what will
remain is the joy and satisfaction of creating new
cultivars that can change human lives for the
better. That remains the challenge for the current
and next generation of wheat breeders.
WEBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.ag-innovation.usask.ca/—Home
page for CAIRN, the Canadian Agricultural
Innovation Network, which has the objective to
increase understanding of agricultural innovation
and to aid in the development of public policy
that promotes both product and process
innovation in the Canadian agriculture and food
sector.
http://www.cimmyt.org—International
Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement.
CIMMYT bred the lines that led to the Green
Revolution.
http: /km.fao.org/gipb/index.php?
option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1—Global
Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity
Building. Includes a global discussion on needs
for plant breeding.
http://www.fao.org/rice2004/en/f-sheet/
factsheet6.pdf—This website provides the most
current information on hybrid rice production,
which is diffi cult to fi nd otherwise.
http://www.globalrust.org/index.cfm?m=1—
Global Rust Initiative website that was developed
due to a new strain of stem rust on wheat which
threatens food security globally and is currently
found in Africa and the Middle East.
http://grainscanada.gc.ca/information/fhb-e.
htm—This is the Canadian website for Fusarium
head blight (FHB) and contains information on
research on this disease. Similar websites are
available in other countries.
http://www-infocris.iaea.org/MVD/—This
website includes a database on cultivars derived
directly or developed by crossing with a mutant
cultivar or line.
http://maswheat.ucdavis.edu/—This website
reports on activities of a major grant to US wheat
researchers who used marker-assisted selection to
introgress or backcross numerous agronomically
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