Accelerated pedigree selection: An alternative to individual plant selection in the normal pedigree breeding method in the self-pollinated cereals

Abstract

Accelerated pedigree selection (APS) involves initial selection based on the assessment of lines rather than individual plants. These lines can be derived by accelerated generation procedures. Unlike single seed descent (SSD), line selection can begin in an early generation. This minimises the risk of differential mortality or sterility. Brief outlines of APS for spring and winter cereals are given. The length of the APS breeding cycle is shorter than that of either pedigree selection (PS) or SSD. In addition to higher efficiency of selection for yield, which must be offset against the need for greater resources, it is expected that APS should result in valuable genotypes being retained and better selection for desirable combinations of characters.