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COBRA - Coordinating Plant Breeding Activities for Diversity

Project


Project code: 2812OE022
Contract period: 01.03.2013 - 29.02.2016
Budget: 161,846 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research

Organic agriculture requires robust crop varieties in order to be able to grow crops with good quality and acceptable yields. Varieties are needed that can deal with stress factors such as suboptimal nutrient supply, drought, pests and diseases or weed pressure. COBRA aims to support and develop organic plant breeding and seed production in Europe with a focus on increasing the use and potential of plant material with high genetic diversity (Hi-D), such as Composite Cross Populations (CCPs) and other genotype mixtures through coordinating, linking and expanding existing breeding and research in cereals (wheat and barley) and grain legumes (pea and faba bean). The three German project partners in the COBRA-Consortium will concentrate on breeding winter wheat. Research will be done with CCPs that have been developed over several years in various places. Focus will be on seed quality and –health, adaptability to stress – mainly climate change – and increase of breeding efficiency. The research at Kassel University will concentrate on continuing work with winter wheat composite cross populations. These were produced in the UK in 2001 and are currently (2012/2013) in the F12. In 2005, researchers from several European countries initiated coordinated field trials with the F5 of a wheat CCP from the UK. Since the F8, the CCPs are either staying in one place (‘home’ CCPs) or moving around among eight partners in Europe (i.e. ‘cycling’ CCPs). Since 2011, the German ‘home’ CCP is being grown by several farmers in Germany. In the COBRA Project, all F12 CCPs originating from a common seed batch with vastly different histories will be compared. We are going to test the hypothesis that exposing genetically diverse material to varying environments under natural selection increases general adaptability. Diseases, yield, baking quality and morphological diversity will be assessed. In addition the populations will be compared using SNP markers (in cooperation with INRA, France). Participatory breeding work with farmers in Germany will be continued for one more year in 2013-14 followed by a comparison on station in 2014-2015. Additonally, the composite cross population (F13 and F14) will be maintained without any selection applied.

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Subjects

Excutive institution

Chair of Plant Nutrition

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