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Crucial factors for the feasibility of commercial hybrid breeding in food crops

Nature Plants volume 8, pages 463–473 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

There is an ongoing societal debate about plant breeding systems and their impact on stakeholders in food systems. Hybrid breeding and hybrid seed have become controversial topics as they are believed to mostly serve high-tech agricultural systems. This article focuses on the perspective of commercial plant breeders when developing new cultivars of food crops. Arguably, hybrid breeding is the most effective breeding system for genetic improvement of crops, enhancing yields, improving product quality and increasing resistance against (a)biotic stresses. Nonetheless, hybrid breeding is not commercially applied in all crops. We analyse how biological and economic factors determine whether a commercial plant breeder opts for the hybrid system or not. We show that the commercial feasibility of hybrid breeding depends on the crop and business case. In conclusion, the commercial application of hybrid breeding in crops seems to be hampered mostly by high costs of seed production. Case studies regarding the hybrid transitions in maize, wheat and potato are included to illustrate these findings.

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Fig. 1: Variation in the occurrence of sexual organs in plants.
Fig. 2: Plant breeding cycle for the development of new cultivars.
Fig. 3: Formal legal framework guiding commercial plant breeding.
Fig. 4: Development of homozygous inbred lines.
Fig. 5: Global seed markets.
Fig. 6: Maize yield increases in the United States since 1866.

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Acknowledgements

N. Louwaars, O. de Ponti, K. Reinink, T. Schotte and J. Trouw are acknowledged for reviewing the manuscript and providing input for Table 2. H. Buerstmayr and V. Korzun are acknowledged for providing input for the wheat case study. C. Bachem and E. Jacobsen are acknowledged for reviewing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Development Economics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands

    Emily M. S. ter Steeg

  2. Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands

    Paul C. Struik

  3. Plant Breeding, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands

    Richard G. F. Visser

  4. Solynta, Wageningen, the Netherlands

    Pim Lindhout

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Contributions

E.M.S.t.S. and P.L. were the lead authors working on the analysis, drafting and revision of the manuscript. P.C.S. and R.G.F.V. helped improve the analysis and took on an editorial role in revising the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Emily M. S. ter Steeg or Pim Lindhout.

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Nature Plants thanks Ryan Whitford, Xiang-Yuan Wan and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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ter Steeg, E.M.S., Struik, P.C., Visser, R.G.F. et al. Crucial factors for the feasibility of commercial hybrid breeding in food crops. Nat. Plants 8, 463–473 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01142-w

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