Comparison of pedigree selection and doubled haploid breeding methods for high erucic acid rapeseed cultivar development

Abstract

Sixty families from pedigree selection and 60 lines from doubled haploid development per cross, for three different Brassica napus L. high erucic acid rapeseed (HEAR) crosses, were created and then compared for agronomic and seed quality performance in four environments in Manitoba in 2000 and 2001. Differences in mean performance for many traits were observed within crosses; however, these differences were not consistent among crosses. Similarly, there were differences observed in ranges for many traits within crosses but with few clear trends among crosses. Similar numbers of superior pedigree selection families and doubled haploid lines within and among crosses for individual traits and for combinations of all traits were found in this study. Financial and temporal resource requirements for these two breeding methods were found to be similar. It is concluded that both pedigree selection and doubled haploid breeding methods have their particular strengths and weaknesses but that neither is clearly superior for the development of B. napus HEAR cultivars. Key words: Brassica napus L., HEAR, breeding method comparisons