1. How can Genetics help to deliver sustainability?
Prof David Pink

2. Can breeders shift from a focus on
Improved crop efficiency - Increase marketable yield/unit area (under high input conditions) to
Improved sustainability - Retain/improve marketable yield/unit area with reduced inputs e.g.
Pesticides
Resources – water, fertiliser
If they can why should they?

3. Unsustainable breeding for resistance e.g. Lettuce Downy Mildew
Caused by oomycete Bremia lactucae
Most important lettuce disease world-wide
> 30 ‘broken’ Dm genes

4. Unsustainable breeding for resistance – the accelerated ‘Boom-Bust’ cycle
Collaboration to identify new ‘major gene’ for resistance
More rapid BOOM- Deployment in many new varieties simultaneously from several breeding companies
Quicker BUST- New pathotype –Dm gene ‘wasted’
Higher selection pressure against avirulence

5. An sustainable form of Resistance
Field Resistance
Effective against all races
Rate reducing (partial) resistance
Less plants infected
Fewer leaves infected
Smaller lesions/less sporulation.
Can breed for this using molecular markers – beat the breeder
cv Iceberg

6. Breeding for Pest and Disease Resistance
Need to shift focus to resistance of the crop not the plant
Crop resistance = economically acceptable level of disease/pest
Achieved by a combination of methods that each reduce the level of infection i.e. integrated crop management of which partial resistance is one component

7. What are targets for breeding for sustainable production?
Use life cycle analysis of current production methods to identify which components have biggest environmental impact and/or energy demand to identify targets for breeders.
e.g. NIAB study of OSR production
in UK – 83% of energy input into
growing crop is associated with
manufacture (70%)and
application (13%)of nitrogen
fertiliser.

8. Genetic variation for Response to N levels in Brassica napus diversity set
Graham Teakle

9. For vegetables breeding for improved post harvest may also improve LCA of the product by:
Reduced need for energy in cooling
Reduced wastage

10. Exploiting genetic variation in Phosphorous use efficiency
B. oleracea diversity set
Brassica with low PAUE
Non P-responsive
Low internal P-use efficiency
Smaller shoots
Shorter roots
Less root FW
Brassica with high PAUE
P-responsive
High internal P-use efficiency
Larger shoots
Longer roots
Greater root FW
John Hammond

11. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE:
change in summer rainfall under two scenarios of CO2 emissions
+10
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
Summer rainfall
% change
Low emissions
High emissions
(not in 2007!!)
[From: UKCIP02 report]

12. Regions of Brassica oleracea genome associated with water use efficiency
d18O Gleadthorpe
d18O Kirton
d13C Gleadthorpe
d13C Kirton
SPAD Gleadthorpe
Mean
SPAD Kirton
Drought
Specific leaf area Gleadthorpe
Specific leaf area Kirton
Control
Andrew Thompson
Biomass response Kirton

13. Can breeders shift from a focus on improved crop efficiency to improved sustainability? – YES
Genetic variation for key traits for sustainable production exists
The tools to breed more sustainable crops are being developed.
Using natural genetic variation breeders can breed crops that can use or acquire resources (water and nutrients) more efficiently. This will reduce these inputs into agricultural systems, providing economic and environmental benefits

14. why should they?
Breeders need to be incentivised/rewarded to produce varieties for low input production.
Current Defra- funded project investigating how to assess variety traits which are important for performance under low input systems.
-will also provide breeders with information on target traits

15. Acknowledgements
Graham Teakle – NUE
John Hammond – PUE
Andrew Thompson - WUE