New and Renewed Breeding Methodology

Abstract

Over the past 10,000 years, barley breeders and geneticists have developed increasingly complex breeding methods. The first selectors were incredibly successful at differentiating the major germplasm groups we still recognize: 2-row/6-row, malt/feed/food/forage, and winter/spring/facultative. They also left a legacy of genetic bottlenecks that breeders and pathologists labor to rectify. Over the years, breeding methods have diverged and rejoined, forming a veritable network of oxbows, backwaters, crosscurrents, and channels. Accelerated generation advance – via off-season nurseries and/or doubled haploids – remains a central feature of many programs. The big wave of fashionable marker-assisted selection has crested, leaving significant smaller sets behind for those actively engaged in implementation. Genomic selection is the current draw, with theory in hot pursuit of results. In this section of the conference, key papers highlight the diversity of breeding methods applied around the world.