Up to today little effort is being made in breeding spring wheat for organic farming. To diminish this dependence an alternative breeding approach is evolutionary breeding. It is a cost effective breeding method aimed to create high levels of genetic diversity in population varieties. This diversity results in improved yield stability, important for organic conditions. Farmers can propagate the seed of populations developed by breeders. Simple forms of farmer selection (through selection on seed size and plant length) may support the development of the populations in the right direction. However, the effects of such selection on baking quality is not yet clear.
"In this project we have studied two aspects important for successful cultivation:
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- The effect of farmer selection on the field performance of populations and their baking quality, and "
- understanding key elements for successful implementation in the whole production chain. "
In the Netherlands and in Germany both forms of selection were conducted for two seasons. In the third year all selection strategies were compared in a single trial.