Paradigm Shifts in Plant Breeding: Automated Phenotyping Combined with Modern Genetics

During the last 50 years plant breeding has resulting in gigantic improvements of crops in terms of yield, quality, resistances and appearance of our agricultural products. However the traditional methods are now reaching their limits. At the same time society needs large improvements of our crops to meet the current and future demands for high quality food, feed fiber, fuel, flowers and fun agricultural products.
In this presentation paradigm shifts are elucidated that will lead to to the desired improved and innovative crop varieties. First, large scale genomics information is available and used for an increasing number of crops. Second, besides Genetic Modification alternative molecular genetic methods are under development that allow fast Molecular Breeding and Molecular Mutagenesis. Third, new automated and robotized phenotyping methods are now being implemented enabling the establishments of correlations of genetic variation with traits of socio economic importance and thereby enabling a new and integrated way of molecular plant breeding. In a number of practical examples it will be shown that genomics in combination with new phenotyping approaches leads to fast and directed ways of genetic improvements of our crops for the future.

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