AGRI 122

PART B
CROP IMPROVEMENT
Objectives: At the end of the semester the students must be
able to:
1. Discuss the scope, nature and importance of plant
breeding, /crop improvement
2. Explain the mode of reproduction as it affects
breeding methodology
3. Outline the general breeding procedures for self and
cross-pollinated crops as well as for apomictic
and vegetative propagated plants
4. Demonstrate and perform the different plant
breeding practices.
A. Definition of Plant Breeding:

The art and science of improving the hereditary

make- up of crops, aimed at the production of
desirable recombinants or types that will suit the
environment under which they are commercially
grown and therefore increase production efficiency (
Lantican 1993).

Deals with the aspect of crop production : It will consist of

the principles and methods required for changing the
genetic constitution of crop plants. This usually produces
crop varieties more suited to human needs in one or more
aspects much better than the existing ones.
B. NATURE OF PLANT BREEDING

1. Plant breeding in early days

 In early days man depended on his skill in selecting better

plants.
 Man’s knowledge about plants is very limited – knew nothing
about inheritance of characters , role of environment in
producing them and the basis of variation in various plant
characteristics.
 Plant breeding in those times was more of an art.
2. Plant breeding as an art

It involves certain skills and techniques in hybridization and

eye in selection

 F.N. Briggs : “ a plant breeder tries to create or mold living

materials to conform an image “

 Early plant breeding work relied on natural skills and

human intuition.
3. Plant breeding as a science

Methodologies are based on certain fundamental laws of

biology(Genetics).

Allied sciences of plant breedings. Plant breeding has

become more precise and successful due to its alliance with
other disciplines notably plant pathology, entomology,
physiology , biochemistry and molecular biology. This alliance
among disciplines is important in view of the diverse demand
of a complex modern – day agriculture and society. We can
say arbitrarily that plant breeding is 90- 95% selection and 5-
10 % hybridization.
5. Fields of plant science essential in the education of the
modern plant breeder

PLANT
BOTANY
BIOCHEMISTRY

GENETICS/
BIOTECHNOLOGY
ENTOMOLOGY
PLANT
BREEDING
AGRONOMY/
PLANT HORTICULTURE
PATHOLOGY

PLANT STATISTICS/
PHYSIOLOGY
COMPUTER SCI.
a. GENETICS. The plant breeder needs a thorough understanding
of the mechanism of heredity in plants as modern plant-
breeding methods are based on a knowledge of the gene and
its inheritance. With the advances in molecular genetics, the
knowledge of genes has been extended to the molecular
level.

b. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY. Cultivar adaptation is influenced by the

response of plants to environmental stresses, such as
extremes in temperature, light, soil moisture, and soil
nutrients. The plant breeder strives to modify the plant’s
physiological processes that will able it to function more
efficiently in the environment in which it is grown.
PLANT PATHOLOGY. Healthy plants are essential for good crop
performance. The plant breeder cooperates with the plant
pathologist in identification of genes for resistance to plant
disease pathogens. Incorporation of genes for resistance to
disease into cultivars improves plant performance and
reduces the need for chemical disease control.

ENTOMOLOGY. Breeding for insect resistance is an economical

and environmentally sound means for avoiding insect damage
while reducing the use of pest control chemicals in field and
horticultural crops.
PLANT BIOCHEMISTRY. The inherent nutritional value of a crop
cultivar for food or for livestock feed, or for utilization by
industry, often may be improved by plant breeding. Examples
are texture and flavor in tomato, increased lysine content in
feed grains, milling and baking quality in wheat, or fiber
fineness and strength in cotton. Molecular genetics has
contributed toward a better understanding of the chemical
structure and function of the genetic material.

STATISTICS. The performance of genetically similar strains are

compared in the breeding nursery. The breeder needs to be
familiar with field plot evaluation techniques that will
generate reliable data and statistical procedures to interpret
the data accurately. Analytical statistical procedures provide a
better understanding of quantitative genetics and its
utilization breeding for improved plant performance.
COMPUTER SCIENCE. The computer has become an essential
tool for systematic planning of the breeding nursery, recording
observations, and rapid analysis and interpretation of the
data.

AGRONOMY/HORTICULTURE. Breeders need to know crops and

how to produce them, they should understand the grower’s
needs in new cultivars of field or horticultural crops in order
to evaluate available breeding materials, plan efficient
breeding procedures, and direct breeding efforts toward
important breeding goals.
Present plant breeding
 Methods are based on scientific principles of plant sciences (
Genetics and Cytogenetics )
 Large part of plant breeding is purely science with very with
very little art involved.
 However selection of desirable plants is still more of an art.
Plant breeder should have the ability to identify plants thru visual
observation.
The amount of seed set in crosses also depends on the
skill of the person making the crosses.
 Plant breeding today is mostly a science.
 A modern plant breeder must know his crop or plant and
be knowledgeable on several related disciplines.
5. Skills Needed by a Breeder
1. Management – there is a need to manage personnel,
time and money. It has already been stated that plant
breeding is a multidisciplinary science and this means
being able to integrate and optimize people’s effort to
effectively use breeder’s time. The length of most
breeding programs means that small proportional
savings in time can be valuable and it hardly needs
emphasizing the breeding needs to be cost effective
and therefore the cost of the program is always going
to be important.
2. Communication - most varietal improvement
programs consist of inputs from more than one
scientist and so it is necessary that plant breeders are
good communicators. Verbal and written
communication of results and test reports will be a
feature in all breeding schemes. Research publications
and grant proposals are of major importance,
particularly to public breeder’s, credibility and funding
is to be forthcoming. Finally, at least some breeders
must be good at passing on the essential information
about the subject to future plant breeders.
C. Historical Developments and Relevance of the issue
of Plant Breeding in the Development and
Improvement of Crop varieties

The earliest form of plant breeding is mainly

relied on “selection”, and “hybridization” by cross
pollination (Figure 1) was a major conventional
procedure for different meritorious traits into a single
plant
• cultivar (Poehlman & Sleper,1995).
Recently, the advanced technology of genetic
engineering and biotechnology has allowed any genes
to be transferred to plants, so-called the “Genetically
Modified Organisms” or “ GMOs”.
The current trends of plant breeding now use the
“biotechnology” to manipulate gene transfer to plants in
the more advantageous ways than the ways of
conventional plant breeding.
Early Selection Systematic Wide
Selection Hybridization

Plant Systematic Mutation Genetic

Domestication Crossing Induction Transformation

Figure 1. Historical development of plant breeding

Date Important activities /achievements

700BC Babylonians and Assyrians pollinated date artificially

1717 Thomas Fairchild produced the first artificial hybrid of date palm
1760-1766 Joseph Kolreuter ( German ) made crosses in tobacco
1759- 1835 Knight was perhaps the first to use artificial hybridization to develop
several new fruit varieties.
1840 Le Courteur and Shireff used individual plant selection and progeny
test to develop cereal varieties.
1856 Vilmorin further developed progeny test and successfully improved
sugarbeets.
1900 Individual plant selection method was developed in detail by Nilsson
et.al.in Sweden.
1902 Walter and Sutton pointed out that the mutual inter- relationship
between cytology and Mendelism , closing the gap between cell
morphology and heredity.
1903 Johannsen proposed the pureline theory that provided the genetic
basis for individual plant selection. First inheritance studies on disease
resistance.
1904 Hannig proposed the idea of embryo culture
1905 Inbreeding program for corn was initiated by Edward Murray East and
George H. Shull
1908 Nilsson- Ehle ( Sweden) . Multiple factor explanation of inheritance of wheat
pericarp color the beginnings of studies on quantitative inheritance. First to
use the bulk pollination method. His experiment provided a useful model for
further analysis of continuous variation of quatitative characters.
1909 EM East formulated the alleomorphs concept; George Harisson Shull.
Extensive crossing of inbreds made to form hybrids.Found that differences
between selfing and sib – crossing became progressively less as the number
of generations of inbreeding increased.
1910 AB Bruce , F Keeble , C. Pellew. That hybrid vigor in a character was due to
the operation of favourable dominance in 2 or more of its components.
1911 GNB Collins and Kemton demonstrated linkage in corn.
1912 HS Jennings. Selfing reduces heterozygosity by one each generation
1916 GH Shull introduced the term heterosis to replace heterozygosis to avoid
implication that all genetic differences which stimulate cell division , growth
and other physiological causes are Mendelian in their inheritance.
1917 First commercial hybrid corn ( double cross ) was developed.
1919 Donald Forsha Jones provided explanation of hybrid vigor as due to
dominant linked favourable genes which is up to now most accepted.
1920 East and Jones proved the existence of self – incompatibility factors in
Nicotiana.
 1926 Pioneer Hybrid Corn Co., the first commercial company in the US was
organized.
1927 L J Stadler .X- ray work with plants or artificial transmutation of genes. In
1930 , he devised and perfected methods of determining rates of different genes
mutated at widely different rates.
19 30’s Use of colchicines in 1937, embryo culture; commercial use of hybrid corn in
the US started.
1940’s- 1950’s Radiation genetics as a result of the coming in of the atomic age; biochemical
and physiological genetics getting started. Use of hybrid corn and improved
varieties in developed countries getting extensive.
1950’s to early 60’s Domination of interests in quantitative genetics , the bandwagon of the time.
Use of cytoplasmic and genetic male sterility in the commercial production of
hybrid seeds is extensive. In 1953 , JD Watson and FH Crick came out with the
DNA configuration model which later earned for them the Nobel prize award.
1960’s- 1970’s Knowledge explosion. Resurgence of interests in molecular biology,
physiologic approaches in plant breeding cell hybridization and culture . A
network of international institutes was established: green revolution brought
about by new high yielding varieties sweeping Asia and the Americas, a
tangible proof of success of plant breeding as an applied science.
1980’s-1990’s Conventional plant breeding continues to make its impact around the world
especially in addressing specific problem areas through genetic intervention.
The recombinant DNA technology has found its application in crop
improvement. Transgressive species of rice ,tobacco, cotton , tomato, melons ,
squash, corn potato, peanuts and etc have been created with gene constructs
derived from plant disease virusis and Bacillus thuringienses.
Development of plant breeding in the Philippines
a). Plant breeding before 1950

• early years immediately after the founding of the Bureau of

Agriculture, Bureau of Science and College of Agriculture in 1990
• early investigations attempted to provide some understanding about
the natural variabilities existing in commercial crops , characterize the
major regional varieties and hypothesize how improvements can be
made.
• plant introductions were undertaken to enrich local collections of
crops varieties of major food and industrial use.
• initiation studies on the pollination habits of crops and hybridization
work.
• (1921) Edward Bingham Copeland studies the San Ramon variety of
coconut which was native in San Ramon Penal Farm in Zamboanga .
He recommended that selection should be based on yield records of
individual trees.
• plant introduction work was active , jointly undertaken by the Bureau of
Agriculture , Bureau of Science and College of Agriculture.
• (1913) 46 rice varieties were introduced adding to the 814 known varieties
( seedling materials of sugarcane) .
• 20 foreign varieties of white and yellow flint and dent corn were
introduced.
• work on the pollination habits of crops got underway as early as 1915.
• pollination habits of rice and sex differentiation in papaya were known.
• ( 1926) T Mercado described a technique for convenient pollination work
in sugarcane. Also , polyembryony in carabao and pico varieties of mango
was noted and its significance in crossing work was mentioned by
Mendiola.
• ( 1915) PJ Wester made a cross between cherimoya and sugar apple or atis
and the resultant hybrid was named Atemoya, which became a
commercial variety.
• ( 1921) JP Tirona made the first hybrid in wrapper type tobacco ( Cagayan
native x Connecticut broadleaf variety ).
• starting in 1915 , sugarcane seedlings were established and used as basis for
selection.
•(1919) Vicente Aldaba hypothesized the breeding concepts that can be
followed in improving latex yield and resistance to diseases of the rubber tree.
• hybridization work in rice and corn through intercrossing among regional
varieties of fruit species was active.
• Dr.Leon Gonzales was responsible for the introduction of many varieties of
fruit species , including the famous Maharlika variety of rambutan.
• Dr.Juan Torres was a tie in the improvement of citrus and other
pomological species. Pedro Rodrigo, Felixberto Serrano and Esteban Cada werew
active in rice improvement work.
• Juan Unite did early investigations in grain legumes.
• discovery of the ornamental plant Dona Aurora
b). Plant breeding in 1950 to 1975

• A program of evaluation of regional strains was undertaken for

corn.
• (1958) the Philippine Seed Board approved the commercial
release of 4 outstanding yellow flint double- cross s and 1
flint double cross hybrid.
• mid- 60’ s : a number of new crop groups were already
established ( rice , corn , sorghum, grain legumes , vegetables
, and forage crops ).
• significant achievements in varietal development and scientific
information generation especially with rice and corn.
 c). Plant breeding in 1975 to 1993

• Establishment of the Institute of Plant Breeding ( IPB ) in

Los Banos in 1975 marked the beginnings of the second
wave of development in plant breeding through an all Filipino
effort.
• IPB released more than 50 varieties of crops like maize ,
tropical wheat , sorghum , peanut , mungbean , soybean , and etc.
Plant breeding , now and the future.

• plant breeding has done very well in helping alleviate the

world food problem in terms of enhancing productivity
especially in the developing countries.
• significant developments in agriculture realized through the
global efforts of Rockefeller Foundation aimed at addressing
hunger and underdevelopment in the Third World countries .
Such efforts led the creation of earliest 2 international
centers:

1. CIMMYT in Mexico (1943)

2. IRRI in the Philippines ( 1962)
Other institutes created:

1. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical ( CIAT) in 1967

in Cali, Colombia
2. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
in Ibadan , Nigeria.
• at present , there are 13 International Agricultural Research
Center ( IARC’s ) funded by the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR ) system or
group of donor governments and international development
programs.
• high yielding varieties of wheat , rice , maize , pulses and root
crops have responded well under favorable environments and
farm management.
• dramatical increase in yield began the new era called the Green
Revolution
• in the 21st century , problems have magnified as to the
uncertainty that the requirements for living of a burgeoning
world population could be met adequately from dwindling
resources, without further sacrificing or doing harm to earth ‘s
ecology and environment.
• sustainability in agricultural production has become imperative

• the concepts may be translated in plant breeding terms into

biological technologies that will produce more food but less
dependence on costly and ecologically disruptive chemical
inputs over a range of favorable and marginal environments ;
varietal development using genetic manipulations.

• plant breeding techniques will have to be more precise and rely

on both conventional and non- conventional approaches.

• built – in factors that enhance natural protection of plants

against pests and diseases and adverse environment should be
ensured. plant breeding work has been reinforced with the
advent of recombinant DNA technology.