Chapter 6 - Breeding Objectives

Abstract

A successful plant breeding project generally begins with clearly defined and achievable goals and objectives. This is crucial because, like a large building construction project, a plant breeding program often requires long periods of time to reach culmination. The construction project starts with an artist's rendition of the completed building and a full set of plans (blueprints) that lay out the process and specifications in great detail. The plant breeding project may include the discovery of facts pertaining to germplasm sources, phenotypic inheritance, and linkage relationships making that make it difficult to interject details and certainty into the plan. A survey of the needs and priorities of the agricultural industry being served by the plant breeder is a useful tool for establishing breeding objectives and achieving consensus to provide resources to support the project. The needs of clientele must be assessed against reasonable standards of technical and resource feasibility and alternative strategies before establishment as targets in a breeding program. The nature of breeding objectives is usually different according to context. For example, programs in the public sector are often more risky and loosely defined than those in the private sector. Availability of resources is an important consideration, including the stability of resource commitment over time. The end-product ideotype is another useful tool for establishing breeding objectives and for stakeholders to agree on prospective measures of progress over time. Care should be taken to target sets of phenotypes that do not interact in undesirable ways. The long-term value of targeted objectives should be considered, including the short-lived utility of vertical disease resistance genes. All prospective breeding programs should be subjected to a rigorous analysis for anticipated return on investment. A discounted cash flow (DCF) scenario is recommended due to prolonged time requirements. In addition to validating the project, a DCF will also be useful for the establishment of annual budgetary targets.