Abstract
About this talk
The aim of crop genetic improvement is to increase the level and stability of the yield potential of crops and improve their quality. Currently, the annual genetic gain of crops is, on average, around 1%. After systematic studies, the prognostic breeding approach adopted, as exclusive unit of evaluation and selection, the individual plant grown in the absence of interplant competition from the early generations of the breeding program. The main objective of this article is to provide an in-depth investigation of the causes of reduced efficiency in plant breeding and clarify important issues that are still somewhat nebulous among the global plant breeding community. Prognostic breeding is a crop improvement methodology maximizing selection efficiency through adoption of a series of innovations that effectively exploit available growth resources and maximize crop yields. One of the key innovations of prognostic breeding is the use of the honeycomb selection designs which sample effectively soil heterogeneity. Another innovation is the plant prognostic equation which is used to measure the crop yield potential of single plants. The equation ensures accurate whole-plant phenotyping by providing objective criteria, where selection is not visual but a matter of quantitative calculation.
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