Abstract
Genetic vulnerability does not at this time present a major threat to production of United States field crops, according to a 1981 survey of U.S. crop breeding directors. But plant breeders do regard genetic vulnerability as an important and potentially dangerous problem. The 1981 survey indicated that although the genetic base of U.S. field crop production is not as narrow as in 1970, it still is concentrated on a relatively small number of favored cultivars. Genetic diversity is provided, nevertheless, in other and less obvious ways. Survey responses indicated that the genetic base of the elite germplasm pool is wider and provides more useful diversity than is usually supposed. However, breeders also value the national germplasm repositories as indispensable sources of needed diversity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Austin, R. B., J. Bingham, R. D. Blackwell, L. T. Evans, M. A. Ford, C. L. Morgan, and M. Taylor. 1980. Genetic improvements in winter wheat yields since 1900 and associated physiological changes. J. Agric. Sci. (Cambridge) 94: 675–689.
Bernard, R. L., and J. G. Shannon. 1980. Registration of Franklin soybean. Crop Sci. 20: 825.
Blaine, M. R. 1979. The Ioway Indians. Univ. Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Briggle, L. W., S. L. Strauss, D. E. Hamilton, and G. H. Howse. 1982. Distribution of the varieties and classes of wheat in the United States in 1979. USDA-ARS Statistical Bulletin No. 676, Washington, DC.
Crop Reporting Board, Economics and Statistics Service, USDA. 1980. Soybeans: regional distribution of major varieties.In Crop Production, November, 1980. Crop Reporting Board, ESS, USDA, Washington, DC.
Dobzhansky, T., F. J. Ayala, G. L. Stebbins, and J. W. Valentine. 1977. Polymorphism and balancing natural selection, p. 107-117. Postzygotic isolating mechanisms in animals and plants, p. 210-218.In Evolution. Freeman, San Francisco, CA.
Duvick, D. N. 1975. Using host resistance to manage pathogen populations. Iowa State J. Res. 49: 505–512.
—. 1976. Genetic rates of gain in hybrid maize during the past 40 years. Maydica 22: 187–196.
-. 1984. Genetic contributions to yield gains of U.S. hybrid maize, 1930 to 1980.In Genetic Contributions to Yield Gains of Five Major Crop Plants. W. R. Fehr, ed., Crop Sci. Soc. Amer. Special Publication No. 7, Madison, WI (In press).
Eberhart, S. A., and W. A. Russell. 1969. Yield and stability for a 10-line diallel of single-cross and double-cross maize hybrids. Crop Sci. 9: 357–361.
Frohberg, R. C, L. D. Sibbett, R. H. Busch, and J. D. Miller. 1977. Butte, an early high yielding, hard red spring wheat. North Dakota Farm Res. 35: 1–7.
Fredericksen, R. A., A. J. Bockholt, L. E. Clark, J. W. Cosper, J. Craig, J. W. Johnson, B. L. Jones, P. Matocha, F. R. Miller, L. Reyes, D. T. Rosenow, D. Tuleen, and H. J. Walker. 1977. Sorghum downy mildew, a disease of maize and sorghum. Texas Agric. Exp. Sta., Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX.
Gallun, R. L. 1977. Genetic basis of Hessian fly epidemics.In The Genetic Basis of Epidemics in Agriculture, P. R. Day, ed. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 287: 223-224.
Gavan, J. D., and J. A. Dixon. 1975. India: a perspective on the food situation. Science 188: 541–549. (I used their figures for annual per capita grain and pulse consumption in India in 1974 to calculate the food potential of Iowa’s maize and soybean production.)
Hartwig, E. E., and J. M. Epps. 1978. Bedford, a new soybean resistant to cyst nematodes. Information Sheet 1280, Mississippi Agric. and Forestry Exp. Sta., Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State, MS.
Harvey, H. P. 1977. Sorghum germplasm base in the United States. Proc. 32nd Annual Corn and Sorghum Res. Conf. 32: 186–198.
Iowa Crop and Livestock Reporting Service. 1980. Iowa Agriculture Statistics, 1980. Iowa Dept. Agric. and USDA, Des Moines, IA, and Washington, DC.
Kehr, W. R., G. R. Mauglitz, and R. L. Ogden. 1968. Dawson alfalfa—a new variety resistant to aphids and bacterial wilt. Nebraska Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 497.
Kuhn, C. W., and M. D. Jellum. 1970. Evaluations for resistance to corn stunt and maize dwarf mosaic diseases in corn. Georgia Agric. Exp. Sta. Res. Bull. 82.
Large, E. C. 1940 (reprinted by Dover, New York, 1962). The barberry and the wheat.In The Advance of the Fungi, p. 121–122. Jonathan Cape, London.
Leudders, V. D. 1977. Genetic improvement in yield of soybeans. Crop Sci. 17: 971–972.
Maunder, A. B. 1972. Objectives and approaches to grain and forage sorghum improvement in the Americas.In Sorghum in Seventies, N. G. P. Ras and L. R. House, ed, p. 60-99. Oxford and IBH, New Delhi.
McVey, D. V. 1980. Postulation of genes for stem rust resistance in the International Wheat Performance Nursery I through XI.In Third Int. Wheat Conf. Proc, Madrid, Spain, 22 May-3 June 1980 p. 466–476. Agric. Exp. Sta., Univ. Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.
-, and A. P. Roelfs. 1978. Stem rust resistance of the cultivar “Waldron.”In Proc. Fifth Int. Wheat Genetics Symp., p. 1061-1065. New Delhi.
National Academy of Sciences. 1972. Genetic Vulnerability of Major Crops. Committee on Genetic Vulnerability of Major Crops, Agricultural Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.
Newman, J. E. 1978. Drought impacts on American agricultural productivity.In North American Droughts, ed, N. J. Rosenberg, ed, p. 43–62. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
Pimm, S. L. 1984. The complexity and stability of ecosystems. Nature 307: 321–326.
Russell, W. A. 1974. Comparative performance for maize hybrids representing different eras of maize breeding. Proc. 29th Annual Corn and Sorghum Res. Conf. 29: 81–101.
Simmonds, N. W. 1962. Variability in crop plants, its use and conservation. Biol. Rev. 37: 422–465.
—. 1979. Epidemics, populations and the genetic base.In Principles of Crop Improvement, p. 262–269. Longman, London and New York.
Sims, R. J. R., and A. A. Araji. 1981. The economic impact of public investment in wheat research in the Western Region. Idaho Agric. Exp. Sta. Res. Bull. 116.
Smith, D. D. 1981. Iowa prairie—an endangered ecosystem. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 88: 7–10.
United States Department of Agriculture. 1981 (and previous volumes). Agricultural Statistics, 1981. U.S. Gov. Printing Office, Washington, DC.
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. 1980. Cotton varieties planted, 1980 crop. USDA Agric. Marketing Service, Cotton Division, Memphis, TN.
Walker, A. K., and W. R. Fehr. 1978. Yield and stability of soybean mixtures and multiple pure stands. Crop Sci. 18: 719–723. (This paper gives a brief review of the advantages of heterogeneity versus homogeneity. The subject needs—but does not have—a full-length, up-to-date review for full exposition and evaluation.)
Zuber, M. S., and L. L. Darrah. 1979. 1979 U.S. corn germplasm base. Proc. 35th Annual Corn and Sorghum Res. Conf. 35: 234–249.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Duvick, D.N. Genetic diversity in major farm crops on the farm and in reserve. Econ Bot 38, 161–178 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858829
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858829