Question

Explain the steps involved in the process of plant breeding.

Answer 1

The main steps of the plant breeding process are as follows:

1. Collection of variability: Wild varieties species and relatives of the cultivated species having desired traits should be collected and preserved. The entire collection having all the diverse alleles for all genes in a given crop is called germplasm collection and can be done by either the in-situ conservation method or ex-situ conservation method.
2. Evaluation and selection of parents: The germplasm collected is evaluated to identify the plants with desirable characters. It is made sure that only the pure lines are selected. The selected plants are multiplied and used in the process of hybridization.
3. Hybridization: The pollen grain from one desired parent plant selected as a male parent is collected and dusted over another plant which is considered as the female parent.
4. Selection and testing of superior recombinants: Progeny obtained after crossing are evaluated for the desired combination of characters. These are self-pollinated for several generations till there is a state uniformity that the characters will not segregate further.
5. Testing, release and commercialization of new cultivars: The selected plants are evaluated by growing the plants in an experimental field and the performance is recorded. This is done for at least 3 growing seasons at different locations.