Breeding Improved Honey Bees, Part 1 Bee Breeding and Animal Breeding
BSPB Plant Breeding Matters Autumn 2013
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Information from the British Society of Plant Breeders Autumn 2013 Plant Breeding Matters Plant Breeding Matters Speaking at BSPB’s Annual Dinner in London earlier this year, Lord de Mauley said: “I am very pleased to endorse the PVR campaign in highlighting the contribution of plant breeding as the starting point in the UK’s £90 billion food supply chain. This chimes exactly with the Government’s own aim to improve the competitiveness of UK agriculture through innovation. Investment in plant breeding offers one of the best opportunities to create additional value within the agri-food chain, not only through increased yields and production efficiency, but also through improvements in quality and seasonality. “Continued investment in a dynamic, innovative and profitable PROMOTING INNOVATION IN PLANT BREEDING plant breeding sector will be essential for the UK to contribute effectively to the global challenges of food security and sustainable development,” he added. Central to the PVR campaign is an EU-registered PVR trademark, now in use throughout the seed trade on seed bags, stationery, invoices, websites and other marketing material – serving as a prominent reminder of the research, innovation and independent testing behind each new variety and bag of purchased seed. More than 70 companies across the UK plant breeding and seeds sector have now signed up to use the trademark, which is supported by a campaign website at www.plantvarietyrights.org. As politicians in Brussels debate new legislation affecting the entire EU seeds sector, BSPB is keen to ensure that UK representatives have a good grasp of the plant breeding sector, its importance to the food and farming economy, and its key role in delivering sustainable increases in food production. Top priorities for plant breeders in the new regulatory package on Plant Reproductive Material are to maintain the key pillars of seed identity, performance, quality and health and to promote innovation in professional plant breeding while reducing unnecessary red tape and saving costs where possible by transferring more responsibilities to industry under official supervision. Conservative MEP visits grass breeding station BSPB continued its programme of meetings with key UK MEPs when Anthea McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands (right in photo), recently visited DLF Trifolium’s forage and amenity grass-breeding site in Worcestershire. De Mauley backs PVR campaign Richard Summers with Lord de Mauley Defra science minister Lord de Mauley has given the Government’s backing to the joint BSPB and AIC PVR campaign, highlighting the key role of plant breeding innovation and quality seed in supporting a competitive farming industry and a dynamic value chain.
Transcript of BSPB Plant Breeding Matters Autumn 2013
Information from the British Society of Plant Breeders Autumn 2013Plant Breeding MattersPlant Breeding Matters
Speaking at BSPB’s Annual Dinner inLondon earlier this year, Lord de Mauleysaid:
“I am very pleased to endorse the PVRcampaign in highlighting the contributionof plant breeding as the starting point inthe UK’s £90 billion food supply chain.This chimes exactly with the Government’sown aim to improve the competitivenessof UK agriculture through innovation.Investment in plant breeding offersone of the best opportunities tocreate additional value withinthe agri-food chain, not onlythrough increased yields andproduction efficiency, butalso throughimprovements in qualityand seasonality.
“Continuedinvestment in a dynamic,innovative and profitable
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plant breeding sector will be essentialfor the UK to contribute effectively tothe global challenges of food securityand sustainable development,” headded.
Central to the PVR campaign is anEU-registered PVR trademark, now inuse throughout the seed trade on seedbags, stationery, invoices, websites and
other marketing material – serving as aprominent reminder of the research,
innovation and independent testingbehind each new variety and bag of
purchased seed. More than 70
companies across the UK plantbreeding and seeds sectorhave now signed up to use thetrademark, which issupported by a campaignwebsite atwww.plantvarietyrights.org.
As politicians in Brussels debate newlegislation affecting the entire EU seedssector, BSPB is keen to ensure that UKrepresentatives have a good grasp of theplant breeding sector, its importance to thefood and farming economy, and its keyrole in delivering sustainable increases infood production.
Top priorities for plant breeders in the
new regulatory package on PlantReproductive Material are to maintain thekey pillars of seed identity, performance,quality and health and to promoteinnovation in professional plant breedingwhile reducing unnecessary red tape andsaving costs where possible by transferringmore responsibilities to industry underofficial supervision.
Conservative MEP visits grass breeding stationBSPB continued its programme of meetings with key UK MEPswhen Anthea McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands(right in photo), recently visited DLF Trifolium’s forage andamenity grass-breeding site in Worcestershire.
De Mauley backs PVR campaign
Richard Summerswith Lord de Mauley
Defra science minister Lord de Mauley has given the Government’sbacking to the joint BSPB and AIC PVR campaign, highlighting thekey role of plant breeding innovation and quality seed in supportinga competitive farming industry and a dynamic value chain.
Dry-harvested field beans and field peas aremainstays of the UK pulse crop, with thecombined area of spring- and autumn-sownvarieties ranging from 110,000 to 250,000ha over the past decade. Indeed the UK isconsistently Europe’s largest producer offaba beans, averaging 600,000 tonnes peryear and ranking second only to China on aglobal basis.
Faba beans account for some 90% ofthe UK’s dry-harvested pulse crop. Theprincipal market is for animal feedcompounding, although a proportion of theUK crop is exported for humanconsumption to Middle Eastern countriessuch as Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Yemen andSaudi Arabia, where the faba bean remainsa traditional staple.
RECENT ADVANCES IN UK PULSEBREEDING Through investment in the developmentof improved varieties, plant breeders havedelivered significant progress in theperformance and end-use quality ofhome-grown pulses:
Despite major improvements in the performance and quality of UKpulse varieties, the home-grown area of field peas and field beanshas fluctuated in recent years in competition with oilseed rape. But pulses may be set for a revival, fuelled by concerns to reducethe carbon footprint of our farming systems and to increase theUK’s self-sufficiency in home-grown vegetable protein for animalfeed, as Plant Breeding Matters reports.
YieldNew varieties of both field peas and fieldbeans have shown consistently improvedyields of 1-2% per year in RecommendedList trials over the past 10-15 years.
Standing abilityBetter lodging resistance in field beanshas come from breeders’ development ofearlier maturing varieties with shorter,stiffer straw. Improved plant architecturein field peas has also been a priority inUK breeding programmes, generatingnew varieties with stabilising tendrils toimprove the crop’s harvestability.
Disease resistanceModern varieties of field peas and springbeans offer high levels of resistance todisease problems such as downy mildew,while winter bean varieties have beendeveloped with resistance to leaf and podspot (Ascochyta fabae).
Nutritional quality UK breeders have developed low tanninand tannin-free field bean varieties toimprove digestibility and so allow higherinclusion rates in compound rations.High protein content also remains a keybreeding objective, alongside thereduction of anti-nutritional factors suchas glycosides.
THE BREEDING PROCESSImproved varieties of field peas and fieldbeans are developed using classicalbreeding techniques.
Hundreds of individual crossesbetween promising parental lines arecarried out by hand to create F1 seedwhich is then grown on to produce manythousands of different F2 plants. It is theenormous diversity of new genecombinations from thissegregation processwhich may holdthe key to asuccessful newvariety.
Seed fromthe best F2plants isgrown on insmall rows orplots, and thebest plantsselected. Aspromising linesemerge, they are tested foryield, disease resistanceand end-use quality. Thisprocess is repeated yearafter year until pure lines ofonly the very best plantsremain, ready for seed
Progress in pulse breedingFEATURE CROP
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Field trials assess yield, disease resistance and agronomic characters
Breeding lines of beans for selection
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multiplication and entry into officialvariety trials.
Improved genetic understanding andthe development of marker-assistedselection have increased the prospects ofsuccess for breeders, while advances ingenomics and bioinformatics are openingup potential new opportunities to helpcommercial breeders pinpoint the genesresponsible for particular quality orperformance traits.
IMPROVING PULSE CROPS FOR FOODSECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY Faced with a rapidly expanding worldpopulation, a changing climate and limitednatural resources, the challenge ofincreasing food production moresustainably is driving renewed UK researcheffort on pulses and legumes.
For example, increased domesticproduction of high protein crops such asfield beans could help reduce the UK’sdependence on imported vegetable proteinfor animal feed, while the pulse crop’sability to fix nitrogen offers significantpotential benefits for the environment andthe farming economy by reducingN fertiliser use. Recent analysis by PGRO
suggests that in addition to fertilisersavings within the break crop itself, fieldbeans contribute around 90kg/ha of soilnitrogen to the following cereal crop, soreducing N use across the rotation.
UK plant breeders are involved in anumber of collaborative research projects,focused on boosting quality andproductivity and improving the reliabilityand consistency of in-field production.
Current pulse-related research includesa number of projects with funding fromthe Technology Strategy Board andindustry partners:
ABSTRESS – a five-year EU-fundedproject led in the UK by Fera, to developlegume crops with improved resistance tobiotic stress (e.g. disease) and abiotic stress(e.g. drought).
OPTIBEAN – a collaborative project ledby independent UK breeder Wherry &Sons to improve the availability of UK-sourced protein feed through thedevelopment of improved genetics (e.g.yield stability and podset stability),improved agronomy guidelines and newmarket opportunities for faba beans.
STEMNEM – also led by Wherry & Sonsto investigate new sources of geneticresistance to stem nematode which affectsyields in bean crops. As part of theproject, resistance has been bred intocommercial lines ready for field testing –if successful, they will be the first UKvarieties to carry this resistance trait.
BEANS4FEED – UK production ofsalmon, pigs and poultry relies onimported soy protein. This project, led byEWOS, a major supplier of feed to theaquaculture industry, is using UK grownfaba beans to develop new protein andstarch-based products to replace importedsoy. Breeding partners are developingbean varieties with higher protein andlower anti-nutritional factors to furtherenhance the economic value of theprocess.
PROTYIELD – an industry/academiccollaboration aimed at releasingadditional yield potential in pulses bybreaking the link between protein contentand yield.
PCGIN – ongoing research effort throughthe Defra-funded Pulse Crop GeneticImprovement Network will also help tounderstand, characterise and exploit thevaluable sources of genetic diversitymaintained at UK-based institutes,including the extensive pea germplasmcollection held at the John Innes Centre inNorwich and the more recently assembledfaba bean collection at NIAB inCambridge.
The recent surge in research effortreflects the renewed significance attachedto pulse crops in addressing the foodsecurity and sustainability challengesfacing UK agriculture.
It also highlights the importance ofcontinued investment – through certifiedseed royalties and farm-saved seedpayments – in commercial plant breedingprogrammes to ensure the outputs of thisresearch are translated onto farm throughimproved varieties tailored to the needs ofUK growers.
Modern varieties of peas offer highlevels of resistance, for example todowny mildew
Plant breeders are increasing potentialyields of new pea and bean varieties by1-2% per year
New pea varieties have stabilisingtendrils to improve harvestability
Controlled crossing of bean varieties in isolation cages
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Dr Richard Summers, cereal breeding andresearch lead at RAGT Seeds, has beenelected chairman of BSPB for the nextthree years, taking over from KWS’ NigelMoore.
Speaking after his election in May thisyear, Dr Summers said the Society’s focusunder his chairmanship would be tocapitalise on the renewed political supportfor agricultural science and technology,and to create the conditions forcommercial plant breeders to help improvethe productivity, sustainability andcompetitiveness of UK crop production.
“The signals now coming out ofgovernment, of the need to reinvigorate theUK agricultural R&D pipeline, to reversethe chronic declines in applied andtranslational research, and to restore theposition of modern agriculture as aproductive, hi-tech sector of the economy,are extremely positive for our sector,” saidDr Summers.
Richard Summers is new BSPB chairman “BSPB has been instrumental in
highlighting the need to translate the UK’sworld-class plant science expertise intoadapted germplasm, traits and breedingtools relevant to the needs of commercialplant breeders. Given the urgent demandson agriculture to produce more from less,there is increased recognition that ourindustry provides the only route to marketfor crop genetic innovation, throughimproved, high-performing varieties.
“Plant breeding is already a highlyresearch-intensive activity, investingaround one third of total income in R&D.This compares favourably with any otherindustrial sector – 15% in thepharmaceuticals sector for example, 10%in the software industry, and less than 5%in the automotive, food and electronicssectors.
“But royalty income to plant breeders,while consistent, is relatively inelastic andprovides little scope for investment in the
kind of speculative, long-term researchwhich will deliver the step-changeimprovements in yield, climate resilience,pest and disease resistance needed to meetfuture food security and sustainabledevelopment goals.
“The ongoing challenge for BSPB is toensure the renewed significance attached toagricultural science and innovationtranslates into tangible opportunities toestablish the UK as a major internationalcentre of excellence for commercial plantbreeding, supported by a strong frameworkof IP protection and proportionate, cost-effective regulation,” he said.
Richard leads cereal breeding and researchat RAGT. He is responsible for four winterwheat breeding programmes (in UK,France, Germany and the Czech Republic),as well as durum wheat, triticale andbarley breeding and associated researchgroups.
After a PhD in genetics at SheffieldUniversity, Richard began his career at thePlant Breeding Institute (PBI) in 1984,working on disease resistance in wheat.After the sale of PBI to Unilever he workedas a winter wheat breeder in the UK andFrance until 1999 (producing over 35
commercially listed varieties with thebreeding team).
Under Monsanto ownership, 1998-2004, Richard had technical responsibilityfor the company’s wheat breeding activitiesin Europe and South Africa. Richard tookon his present role following the sale of theEuropean wheat breeding programmes toRAGT in 2004.
In addition to his role at BSPB, Richardsits on the NIAB Board and is a member ofthe John Innes Centre Science ImpactAdvisory Board.
RICHARD SUMMERS – CEREAL BREEDING ANDRESEARCH CO-ORDINATOR, RAGT
Tom Allen-Stevens (left) receives thefirst BSPB Award for agriculturaljournalism from judge and BSPBBoard Member Chris Green
An in-depth article reporting the latestdevelopments in hybrid wheat breedingwon Tom Allen-Stevens, editor of CropProduction Magazine, the first BSPB award recognising excellence in agriculturaljournalism.
Open to members of the Guild ofAgricultural Journalists, the annual BSPBaward was introduced to encourage andreward exceptional articles exploringinnovation in plant breeding and seedtechnologies.
The winning article describes thetechnology involved in hybrid wheatbreeding and seed production, as well as thepotential benefits on offer for UK growers.
Hybrid wheat article scoops new BSPB awardAward judges Chris Green of Senova,
Robert Hiles of Syngenta and Bob Miles ofElsoms Seeds, described the piece as a veryreadable and well-researched story.
“The hybrid wheat article is valuable tothe thinking farmer, with good factual andtechnical content. It’s an article with plentyof interest and originality, plenty of factswith clear reasoning and discussion aroundthem,” they concluded.
Read the article at http://www.cpm-magazine.co.uk/pub/CPM_August_2012.pdf
UPDATE Earlier this year, BSPB issued a briefingnote answering some of the questions mostfrequently asked by farmers and theiradvisers in relation to seed use and supply.These FAQs have been updated forautumn 2013 on the BSPB website(www.bspb.co.uk), including twoadditional points, explaining why theillegal transfer of FSS undermines plantbreeding innovation, and a reminder tocheck for prefixes in the names of varietieswhen declaring farm-saved seed use.
Q.My neighbour and I have growndifferent wheat varieties. We have each hadsome treated by our FSS processors for useas farm-saved seed. Surely we can swapsome of this, as provided we make the FSSpayment the breeders do not miss out?
A. It is against the law to transfer FSSfrom one holding to another whether theFSS payment has been made or not. Thelegislation is there to establish a balancebetween the rights of the breeder and thegrower, making sure that the breeder isrewarded appropriately and can continueto invest in the development of newvarieties.
The payment on FSS is approximatelyhalf of the royalty paid for a commercialsupply of certified seed. Illegal transfer offarm-saved seed therefore erodes breeders’income and reduces the funding availablefor reinvestment in breeding. Certified seedalso brings a guarantee that the seed is ofknown provenance and quality and hasbeen independently tested for germinationand purity.
Q. I have farm-saved seed to declare butcan’t find the name of the variety that Ihave used on the list of eligible varieties.What should I do?
A. First check whether the full name ofthe variety that you want to declare has aprefix, e.g. KWS Santiago, JB Diego, NFCTipple, SY Venture, Es Astrid. Varieties areshown on the list in alphabetical order,including the prefix so you need to lookfor KWS Santiago and not Santiago. If youstill cannot find the variety on the listcontact BSPB on 01353 653209 or [email protected].
RABI recognisesBSPB donation
FARM-SAVED SEED –KEY POINTSHere is a reminder of the keypoints to ensure compliance withthe rules of farm-saved seed.
• All use of farm-saved seedmust be declared to BSPB,including the use of older,previously zero-rated varieties.
• There are five ways to declare– by post, e-mail, online,phone and fax.
• Payment for use of eligiblevarieties must be made toBSPB. Two payment routes areavailable:
• via your NAAC orBSPB-registered seedprocessor at a tonnagerate;
• direct to BSPB at ahectarage rate.
• Farm-saved seed must beproduced and saved within afarmer’s own holding (i.e. landfarmed as the same business).
• Farm-saved seed rules applywhether seed has beenprocessed or taken straightfrom the barn.
• Farmers cannot sell, buy,barter or otherwise transferfarm-saved seed outside theirown holding.
• The use of farm-saved seedfrom hybrid varieties is notpermitted without thebreeder’s consent.
RABI awards the Dennis Brownshield annually to the individual ororganisation making the largestsingle donation in the year. BSPB washonoured to be presented with theshield at RABI’s AGM to mark theSociety’s £10,000 donation in 2012.
Bob Miles receives the DennisBrown shield from HRH The Dukeof GloucesterP R O M O T I N G I N N O V A T I O N I N P L A N T B R E E D I N G
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British Society of Plant Breeders LtdBSPB House, 114 Lancaster Way Business Park, ELY CB6 3NXTel +44(0)1353 653200 Fax +44(0)1353 661156Email [email protected] Website www.bspb.co.uk
BSPB has launched a new online sourceof information about plant breeding.
The Plant Breeding Matters websiteprovides a lively and colourful guide tothe plant breeding sector, and thecontribution of new varieties inimproving the quality, performance andproductivity of our agricultural andhorticultural crops.
Focused on key themes such as food,health, economy and the environment, andincorporating illustrated case studies andvideo clips, the site has been developed byBSPB to meet increasing interest anddemand for information about the businessand science of plant breeding.
“Against a background of renewedpublic interest in modern, science-based
agriculture and food production, we hopethe Plant Breeding Matters website willengage and appeal to as wide-ranging anaudience as possible in helping to explainand illustrate the contribution of the plantbreeding and seeds sector,” says BSPB chiefexecutive Dr Penny Maplestone.Visit the new website atwww.plantbreedingmatters.com
New website brings plant breeding to life!
The Strategy’s emphasis on productive, hi-tech farming and the allocation of newfunding streams to support translationalresearch are positive signals thatagriculture is once again viewed as a keysector of the UK economy.
But having set out a clear vision andpolicy framework to unlock the potentialof the UK agri-food sector, BSPB chairmanDr Richard Summers says the Strategy’simplementation must reflect theimportance of investment in a functioning
crop improvement pipeline. “When setting priorities for the
Strategy’s implementation, Ministers andmembers of the Agri-Tech LeadershipCouncil must recognise that no amount ofprecision farming, remote sensing or hi-tech robotics can replace for the need toensure that advances in basic plant sciencecan be readily translated into market-readytraits, germplasm and breeding tools.”
“Access to improved crop varieties –delivered to market by the commercial
Plant breeders welcome new Agri-Tech StrategyBSPB has welcomed the Government’s new Agri-Tech Strategy,published earlier this year, as a clear recognition of the need to forgestronger links between the science base and industry, and toaccelerate the transfer of research into practical on-farm application.
plant breeding and seeds sector – is thefoundation for successful, productiveagriculture. But in recent years BSPB hasmoved to highlight concerns over thewidening gap between public sectorresearch and its relevance or accessibilityto commercial plant breeders.
“The Agri-Tech Strategy offers a majoropportunity to bridge this gap. Improvedcollaboration between public and privatesector and increased investment intranslational research can help plantbreeders deliver the step-changeimprovements in yield, climate resilience,pest and disease resistance needed to meetfuture goals for economic growth, foodsecurity and sustainable development,”said Dr Summers.
