Question

Enumerate in sequential order, the 4-steps that a plant breeder should follow to obtain a disease-resistant crop.

Answer 1

The four steps to obtain a disease-resistant crop are as followed:

a) Selection and screening of germplasm for the disease resistance- Germplasm is the sum total of all the alleles of the genes present in a crop and its related species. The diseases resistant germplasm are selected.

(b) Hybridisation of selected parent plant- The selected parents are hybridized to produce the desired variety.

(c) Selection and evaluation of hybrids- This step comprises selecting, among the progeny of the hybrids, those plants that have the desired character combination. The selection process yields plants that are superior to both of the parents.

(d) Testing and release of new varieties into the market- The newly selected lines are evaluated for their yield and other agronomic traits of quality, disease resistance by growing in research fields.