Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to be developed are the ones that will satisfy the farmers
and end-users and that can be produced in an agri-
cultural system at an economic level. The supply of a
product and the consumer's demand for that product
are inter related. If there is over-production of a crop
then there is a tendency for the purchase price to be
lower. Conversely of course, when a product is in high
demand and there is limited production then the prod-
uct is likely to command high premiums. In general,
however there is a tendency for an equilibrium; that
farmers will only produce a volume that they think they
can sell according to the needs of the end-user.
Although as stated, plant breeding is influenced by
economic activity, financial concerns are rarely consid-
ered in setting breeding objectives or setting a breeding
or selection strategy. It is often assumed that increased
yielding ability, better quality and greater disease or
pest resistance are going to be associated with improved
economics of the crop. Unfortunately this topic has
been examined by very few researchers and is an area
where greater examination would help the probability
of success in plant breeding.
Private breeding companies have developed eco-
nomic breeding objectives that have had greatest influ-
ence on breeding objectives or strategy. This is perhaps
not surprising as these groups require developing bet-
ter cultivars and selling seeds or collecting royalties on
these genotypes in order to survive in the industry.
Public sector breeding groups are often not under the
same economic restraints. Thus, the private breeder in
maximizing profits will tend to favour objectives that
will promote seed sales and discourage farmers from
retaining a proportion of their crop as seed for the fol-
lowing season. In many cases therefore hybrid cultivars
are preferred over homozygous lines or open-pollinated
populations. Similarly, private breeding companies have
little incentive to develop varieties which have biologi-
cal resistance to seed-borne diseases (e.g. virus disease in
potatoes) as this will again encourage farmers to return
each season to the seed company for new seed supply.
In addition, many private breeding groups are linked to
(or indeed owned by) agricultural chemical companies.
There could therefore be reduced benefit in developing
cultivars which are biologically resistant to diseases if
that chemical company has a monopoly in sales of the
chemical that is used to control the disease. Therefore
the objectives of different groups will differ accord-
ing to the organization that is funding the breeding
programme.
INCREASING GROWER
PROFITABILITY
In general yield is the most important character of
interest in any plant breeding programme. Therefore,
increasing crop yield will always be a sensible strategy.
There would be only limited use for a new cultivar unless
it has the potential to at least yield at a comparable level
over existing varieties, unless the harvestable product fits
a particular niche market and hence can attract a higher
'per unit price'. Plant breeders tend therefore to select
for increased profitability. Farmer's profits are related to
input costs and gross returns on the crop. Plant breeders
can increase grower's profitability by:
Increasing the yield per planted area, assuming input
costs remain constant
Increasing the region of crop production
Reducing input costs while maintaining high yield
per unit area (input costs will include herbicides,
insecticides and fungicides)
Increasing the inherent quality component of the end
product so that growers receive a higher unit price
when the harvestable product is sold, or such that the
product is more nutritious
All crops have restricted ranges of environments to
which they are adapted. Bananas and sugarcane are
unlikely to be grown as commercial crops in the Pacific
Northwest region of the United States or in Northern
Europe. However, one attribute to increasing yield may
be related to increasing the range of environments that
a crop can be grown. For example, the development
of earlier maturing Brassica napus lines has extended
the canola (oilseed rape) acreage in Canada to include
regions further west than was previously possible. A sim-
ilar extension of adaptation must have been involved
with movement of wheat and maize to northern temper-
ate regions over the past decades. For example, potato
production in many world regions is difficult, as healthy
seed tubers cannot be produced or made available when
required for planting. Developing potato cultivars that
are propagated from true botanical potato seed (TPS)
would overcome many difficulties that occur in these
regions. Few potato diseases are transmitted through
TPS. In addition, small quantities of TPS would be
required for planting compared to traditional seed
 
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