3rd Agronomy Webinar

Evolutionary Plant Breeding: Exploiting Diversity to Cope with Uncertainty

Evidence from ecological theory, genetic research, and agronomic practice shows that evolutionary populations and dynamic mixtures represent a dynamic response to the complexity of climate change not only in its physical characteristics (temperature and rainfall) but also in its biotic aspects and in its location specificity. Evolutionary populations and dynamic mixtures, with their capacity to evolve in response to both biotic and abiotic stresses, as long as they maintain sufficient genetic diversity, appear to be the quickest, most cost-effective, and evolving solution to such a complex and evolving problem. They have the additional advantage of increasing yield gains resulting from a combination of natural and artificial selection and genetic recombination.

They are also able to control pests, which makes them particularly suited to organic systems, representing an ecological solution to pest control; they do not create a selection pressure favoring the evolution of resistance as uniform varieties do. Therefore, EPs and mixtures will fill an important gap represented by the scarce availability of varieties specifically adapted to organic conditions.

Because of their evolutionary capability and their ability to control pests, they represent at the same time a mitigation and an adaptation strategy to cope with climate change. They represent a mitigation strategy because they reduce considerably the use of chemical inputs, and they represent an adaptation strategy associated with their ability to continuously evolve to adapt to new combinations of biotic and abiotic stresses.

Finally, as they evolve, they generate a continuous flow of novel, cultivated agro biodiversity even within the same crop, which will be beneficial in increasing diet diversity and ultimately human health.

Therefore, evolutionary plant breeding is capable of reversing the trend of modern plant breeding towards uniformity and to reconcile plant breeding with the overwhelming scientific evidence of the importance of biodiversity.

Date: 11 January 2023

Time: 3:00 pm CET | 9:00 am EST | 10:00 pm CST Asia | 5:00 pm EAT (Eastern Africa Time) | 5:30 pm IRST (Iran Time)

Webinar ID: 859 4777 4191

Webinar Secretariat: agronomy.webinar@mdpi.com