Thesis
For Whom Do I Breed Barley?
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
05/2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006967
Abstract
Hordeum vulgare, barley is an important global crop primarily used for animal feed and alcohol production. Barley is a diploid plant that is self-fertile, and as such, its nature lends well to Evolutionary Plant Breeding techniques that allow for the creation of large amounts of novel genetically diverse germplasm. Current trends of Pure Line Breeding focus on breeding elite lines by elite lines this has resulted in genetic erosion which is of concern for the future of barley, especially in context of climate change. Here we focus on breeding genetically diverse barley populations specifically for low input agricultural systems located in the maritime climate of Western Washington. Additionally, we address the issues of private funding dominating and dictating the future of public plant breeding efforts ultimately controlling the work of public plant breeders. For Whom do Public Plant Breeders work? Our funding was through private industry that had no control over the decisions made for the breeding work done in this research. This is a rare case where a plant breeder can make decisions based on breeding targets they believe are important for long term sustainability and not just short term profit for private industry. Here we show a model that allows for genetically diverse crops to exist in society allowing for an alternative agricultural approach that better suits the environment, long term
sustainability and humanity. Besides the value as a crop itself, barley provides a valuable alternative model that can be applied to many important agricultural crops.
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Details
- Title
- For Whom Do I Breed Barley?
- Creators
- Louis Ary Prager
- Contributors
- Stephen S Jones (Chair)Kevin M Murphy (Committee Member)Gabriel LaHue (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 63
- Identifiers
- 99901125240201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis