Selection Methods in Plant Breeding

About this book

Written for plant breeders, researchers and post-graduate students, this book provides a comprehensive review of the methods and underlying theoretical foundations used for selection in plant breeding programmes. The authors review basic elements of population and quantitative genetic theory, and consider in a unique way the tackling of the problems presented by soil heterogeneity and intergenotypic competition when selecting quantitative characters.

The efficacy of different methods with regard to developing new varieties of crops are discussed for different modes of reproduction.

This work provides a sound basis for informed decision making within the process of a selection programme.

Contents

Population genetical aspects of cross-fertilization. Inbreeding. Assortative mating and disassortative mating. Population genetical effects of selection with regard to sex expression. Random variation of gene frequencies. Selection. Quantitative aspects. Quantitative characters. Effects of the mode of reproduction on the expected genotypic value. Effects of the mode of reproduction on the genetic variance. Applications of quantitative genetic theory in plant breeding. Simultaneous selection for several traits. Selection for quantitative traits. Genotype x environment interaction. The unmasking of the genotype value in case of heterogeneous growing conditions. Effects of competition on the efficiency of selection. The optimum number of replications. The size and shape of test plots. The optimal generation for selection in self-fertilizing crops. Experimental designs for plant breeding.

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