Course overview
This course aims to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of plant breeding and plant adaptation that are applicable to agricultural and natural systems.
Course learning outcomes
- Describe sources and types of genetic variation and explain their importance for plant improvement
- Describe the progression of stages within a modern breeding programme from the setting of breeding objectives, through the development and implementation of breeding strategies to the commercialisation of plant varieties and the protection of intellectual property
- Describe methods that are used in plant breeding and judge which plant breeding methods are appropriate for specific objectives and situations
- Locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise plant breeding information to formulate and communicate a justifiable plan for the application of plant breeding methods to achieve a specific objective
- Understand how to perform specific plant breeding activities, such as selection of parental germplasm, observation and recording of phenotypic variation and selection among progeny