Breeding Methods: Line Development

Abstract

In order to produce successful varieties, wheat breeding programs must develop several strategies that fall under one of the following topics: line develop­ment, population improvement, and selection methods. Part I of this chapter focuses on breeding activities related to line development, while Part II discusses population improvement and selection methods. Line development refers to the process of obtaining homozygous inbreds derived from crosses between parental lines. A wide variety of line development methods have been proposed in pursuit of greater effi­ciency and effectiveness. This chapter aims to provide basic knowledge on line development methods in relation to wheat breeding, describe how and why they came about, and synthesize the results of empirical studies that have evaluated them in order to foster critical thinking and innovation in breeding strategy design.