The use of this hybrid technique allows breeders to select the best of the two parent seeds to produce offspring that have positive characteristics from both, through a phenomenon known as hybrid vigor. The yield increases.
Growers said that when seed companies produce hybrid wheat seeds, some female plants ultimately fail to fertilize because they depend on unpredictable winds to carry pollen. He said that during the natural process of self-pollination of wheat, the fertilization of each plant is more certain.
How widespread are hybrid crops?
Farmers have grown hybrid corn since the 1930s, and it has improved yields by increasing the plant’s resistance to pests and diseases. Vegetables including onion, spinach and tomato are also grown from hybrid seeds.
The seed companies said they used their experience launching hybrid corn and barley to develop hybrid wheat. The US Department of Agriculture states that average corn yields climbed 600% from the 1930s to the mid-1990s, partly aided by hybridization, while wheat saw a 2.5-fold increase.
The researchers said that hybrid wheat has taken longer to reach the market because the development process is more expensive and complex. This could be the key to increasing wheat production while avoiding the “GMO” label.
Genetically modified (GM) varieties of corn and soy, used for ingredients such as animal feed, biofuels and cooking oil, were introduced in 1996 and soon became available in the United States, as well as Brazil and Argentina. , dominated planting in the world’s top suppliers. Genetically modified wheat has never been grown for commercial purposes because of consumers’ fears that the staple used around the world for bread, pasta and pastries could cause allergies or toxicity.
“Because of their resistance to genetically modified material, hybrids will be considered better and safer,” said Dave Hanke, owner of Hanke Seed Company in Park River, North Dakota. “It will definitely be the public perception.”
What can be the advantages of hybrid wheat?
Argentinian biotech company Bioceres is developing genetically modified wheat to better tolerate drought – consumer resistance to GMOs should be eased as climate change makes it more difficult to grow conventional crops. Large companies are working to develop hybrid wheat for certain geographic regions.
For example, in the US Central Plains, where farmers grow hard red winter wheat, which is used to make bread, BASF said its hybrid wheat is focused on resisting a yield-robbing disease called fusarium head blight. Will concentrate In northern plains states like North Dakota, the company is targeting a hybrid of high-protein hard red spring wheat, used to make pizza crust and croissants, that has properties suitable for milling and baking.