Brought to you by Limagrain
Major progress in barley breeding
Breeding requires foresight: today's new hybrids are only ready for practical use after years of testing. Kees Boot, barley breeder at Limagrain, continues to make great progress in barley breeding through worldwide breeding programs, natural resistances and marker selection.
"The extreme weather presents growers with major challenges, but essentially changes our working method very little. Growers don't have much of varieties that only perform top under certain conditions. So we don't grow with them any further. The crosses need high yields under all possible growing conditions. get it," said Boot.
Natural resistances
"We can do this by crossing natural resistances. After years of breeding work, we now have a number of strong parent lines that are tolerant to the barley yellowing virus. These plants do not or hardly suffer from the virus, so seed disinfection or spraying with insecticides can be omitted. That increases the balance for the grower and has become even more important with the current pressure on neonicotinoids," continues Boot.
The winter barley grass LG Rafaela is the first descendant to have this natural resistance, and since its introduction in 2016, it has been widely grown in the Netherlands and Belgium with very good results. Its successor LG Zebra, with shorter straw and a higher hectolitre weight, will probably be available for practice in 2019.
Predictive value
"We are also fully committed to the predictive value of marker selection. In addition to the relatively simple markers for disease resistance and quality, we are now also well advanced in genomic selection for the complex trait yield potential. We compare genetic fingerprints with yield data from our worldwide trial field data, so we can predict more accurately how a new variety will perform," says Boot.
"This allows us to make much more targeted selections and crosses and to register them faster. We make faster progress in yield potential and we can respond more quickly to new developments in, for example, disease pressure and cultivation conditions," concludes Boot.
View the recommended winter barley varieties for 2019.
