Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Breeding for organic agriculture: the example of winter wheat in Austria

  • Published:
Euphytica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Breeding for organic agriculture (BFOA) is a strategy for a commercial breeding company based on the exploitation of the frequently observed high correlation for many traits between conventional, low input (LI) and organic agriculture (ORG). Indirect selection under LI can be useful to roughly divide the germplasm into the genotypes better adapted to high input and those better adapted to LI or ORG conditions. BFOA is an evolving process, in which two methods are currently applied: early generations are either selected following the pedigree system under LI, or grown as bulk populations on ORG fields. In the latter case the system switches to LI after individual ear selection under ORG conditions. In both methods, the first replicated yield trial is grown parallel under ORG and LI. Subsequently, the genotypes are grouped into conventional or ORG advanced trial series. The BFOA strategy allows that the larger genetic variability of both the organic and conventional gene pool can be exploited in the selection for ORG. Hitherto, seven winter wheat varieties were released in Austria after exclusive organic VCU testing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

BFOA:

Breeding for organic agriculture

DUS:

Distinctness, uniformity and stability

HI:

(Conventional) high input agriculture

LI:

(Conventional) low input agriculture

N:

Nitrogen

ORG:

Organic agriculture

VCU:

Value for cultivation and use

References

  • AGES (2002) Österreichische beschreibende Sortenliste 2002, Landwirtschaftliche Pflanzenarten, Weizen im biologischen Landbau. Bundesamt und Forschungszentrum für Landwirtschaft (BFL), Wien, Austria, Schriftenreihe 21/2002, pp 34−37

  • AGES (2008) Österreichische beschreibende Sortenliste 2008. http://www.ages.at/servlet/sls/Tornado/web/ages/content/B0A708F4A83608C8C1256F730021909E. Accessed 29 Apr 2008

  • AMA (2007) Daten und Fakten – Getreide und Ölsaaten, Getreideanbauflächen Ernte 2007 (inkl. Bioflächen). Agrarmarkt Austria, Vienna. http://www.ama.at/Portal.Node/ama/public?gentics.rm=PCP&gentics.pm=gti_full&p.contentid=10008.46403&165_anbaufl_oesterr_ab_2005_10_2007.pdf. Accessed 29 Apr 2008

  • Bauer AM, Léon J (2008) Multiple-trait breeding values for parental selection in self-pollinating crops. Theor Appl Genet 116:235–242

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer AM, Reetz TC, Léon J (2006) Estimation of breeding values of inbred lines using best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) and genetic similarities. Crop Sci 46:2685–2691

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Birschitzky J (2007) Economic perspectives of breeding cereals for organic farming through a combination of organic and conventional selection strategies. In: Osman AM, Müller K-J, Wilbois K-P (eds) Different models to finance plant breeding, Proceedings of the ECO-PB International Workshop, Feb 27, Frankfurt, Germany. European Consortium for Organic Plant Breeding, Driebergen/Frankfurt, pp 13–16

  • Brancourt-Hulmel M, Heumez E, Pluchard P, Beghin D, Depatureux C, Giraud A, Le Gouis J (2005) Indirect versus direct selection of winter wheat for low-input or high-input levels. Crop Sci 45:1427–1431

    Google Scholar 

  • Buddenhagen IW (1983) Breeding strategies for stress and disease resistance in developing countries. Annu Rev Phytopathol 21:385–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ceccarelli S, Grando S, Hamblin J (1992) Relationship between barley grain yield measured in low- and high-yielding environments. Euphytica 64:49–58

    Google Scholar 

  • DePauw RM, Knox RE, Clarke FR, Wang H, Fernandez MR, Clarke JM, McCaig TN (2007) Shifting undesirable correlations. Euphytica 157:409–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donner D, Osman A (eds) (2006) Handbook cereal variety testing for organic and low input agriculture. COST860-SUSVAR, Louis Bolk Institute, Driebergen, The Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Duveiller E, Singh RP, Nicol JM (2007) The challenges of maintaining wheat productivity: pests, diseases, and potential epidemics. Euphytica 157:417–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrendorfer M (1987) A regionalization of Austria’s precipitation climate using principal component analysis. J Climatol 7:71–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisele J-A, Köpke U (1997a) Choice of cultivars in organic farming: new criteria for winter wheat ideotypes. 1. Light conditions in stands of winter wheat affected by morphological features of different varieties. Pflanzenbauwissenschaften 1:19–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisele J-A, Köpke U (1997b) Choice of cultivars in organic farming: new criteria for winter wheat ideotypes. II. Weed competitiveness of morphologically different cultivars. Pflanzenbauwissenschaften 1:84–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Falconer DS (1989) Introduction to quantitative genetics, 3rd edn. Longman Scientific & Technical, Harlow, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Grausgruber H, Oberforster M, Werteker M, Ruckenbauer P, Vollmann J (2000) Stability of quality traits in Austrian-grown winter wheats. Field Crop Res 66:257–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gröger S, Oberforster M, Werteker M, Grausgruber H, Lelley T (1997) HMW glutenin subunit composition and bread making quality of Austrian grown wheats. Cereal Res Commun 25:955–962

    Google Scholar 

  • Hänsel H (1961) Untersuchungen über theoretische Häufigkeiten ‘erwünschter’ und ‘brauchbarer’ Genotypen bei 1 bis 10 unabhängigen Spaltungseinheiten, in Hinblick auf die Effektivität der Auslese in einer bestimmten Filialgeneration. Z Pflanzenzüchtg 46:265–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Hänsel H (1970) Die Züchtung eines ertragreichen Winter-Qualitätsweizens: ‘Probstdorfer Extrem’. Bericht 21. Tagung 1970 der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Saatzuchtleiter, Dec 1–3. BAL Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria, pp 45–68

  • Hänsel H (1976) Heritabilität von Teileigenschaften und deren Korrelation zu Komplexeigenschaften (‘Tafeln für die indirekte Selektion’). Bericht 27. Tagung 1976 der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Saatzuchtleiter, Nov 23–25. BAL Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria, pp 3–10

  • Hänsel H (1984) Selection for components of complex characteristics—indirect selection. In: Selection in mutation breeding, Int Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria, pp 49–55

  • Hänsel H (2001) Yield potential of barley corrected for disease infection by regression residuals. Plant Breed 120:223–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hänsel H, Ehrendorfer K (1973) Intervarietale Korrelationen zwischen Ertrags-, Entwicklungs- und Qualitätsmerkmalen bei Winterweizen, das Verhältnis von Klebergehalt zu Rohproteingehalt als Sortenmerkmal, und Fortschritte der Qualitätsweizenzüchtung im Pannonischen Gebiet Österreichs. Z Pflanzenzüchtg 69:169–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Hänsel H, Fleck A (1990) Reaktion verschiedener Winterweizen bezüglich Kornertrag, Proteingehalt und Proteinertrag auf das Produktivitätsniveau in Versuchen ohne Fungizid- und CCC-Behandlung im Trockengebiet (Ein Beitrag zur Low-Input-Diskussion). Bericht 41. Tagung 1990 der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Saatzuchtleiter, Nov 20–22. BAL Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria, pp 145–154

  • Hänsel H, Seibert L, Gröger S, Lelley T (1994) HMW-Glutenin-Untereinheiten von 22 seit 1948 in Österreich gezüchteten Qualitätswinterweizen und von deren Eltern. Genetische Ertragssteigerung und Qualitäts-Stabilisierung unter Beibehaltung der Glu-B1/Glu-D1 Kombination 7 + 9/5 + 10. Bericht 45. Tagung 1994 der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Saatzuchtleiter, Nov 22–24. BAL Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria, pp 15–22

  • Hoad S, Neuhoff D, Davies K (2005) Field evaluation and selection of winter wheat for competitiveness against weeds. In: Lammerts van Bueren ET, Goldringer I, Østergård H (eds) Organic plant breeding strategies and the use of molecular markers, Proceedings of the COST-SUSVAR/ECO-PB Workshop, Jan 17–19. Louis Bolk Institute, Driebergen, The Netherlands, pp 61–66

    Google Scholar 

  • IFOAM (2004) IFOAM Draft standards. D1 Plant breeding draft standards. International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, Bonn, Germany

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempf H (2003) Weizenzüchtung für den ökologischen Landbau – Züchtung und Zulassung der Sorte Ökostar in Deutschland. Bericht 53. Tagung 2002 der Vereinigung der Pflanzenzüchter und Saatgutkaufleute Österreichs, Nov 26–28. BAL Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria, pp 65–70

  • Kirigwi FM, van Ginkel M, Trethowan R, Sears RG, Rajaram S, Paulsen GM (2004) Evaluation of selection strategies for wheat adaptation across water regimes. Euphytica 135:361–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleijer G, Schwaerzel R (2006) Backqualität von Winterweizen in Bio- und Extenso-Zulassungsprüfungen. Agrar Forschung 13:56–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruepl C, Hoad S, Davies K, Bertholdsson N-O, Paolini P (2006) Weed competitiveness. In: Donner D, Osman A (eds) Handbook cereal variety testing for organic and low input agriculture. COST860-SUSVAR. Louis Bolk Institute, Driebergen, The Netherlands, pp W1–W16

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunz P, Becker K, Buchmann M, Cuendet C, Müller J, Müller U (2006) Die Züchtung von Top-Qualitätsweizen für den Biologischen Landbau. Bericht 56. Tagung 2005 der Vereinigung der Pflanzenzüchter und Saatgutkaufleute Österreichs, Nov 22–24. HBLFA für Landwirtschaft Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria, pp 3–7

  • Lammerts van Bueren ET, Struik PC, Tiemens-Hulscher M, Jacobsen E (2003) Concepts of intrinsic value and integrity of plants in organic plant breeding and propagation. Crop Sci 43:1922–1929

    Google Scholar 

  • Lammerts van Bueren ET, Verhoog H, Tiemens-Hulscher M, Struik PC, Haring MA (2007) Organic agriculture requires process rather than product evaluation of novel breeding techniques. NJAS Wageningen J Life Sci 54:401–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Löschenberger F, Ittu G, Kempf H, Rolland B, Schneider D (2007) SUSVAR—Winter wheat ringtest over 15 environments in Europe—Results. In: Lammerts van Bueren ET, Goldringer I, Scholten O, Østergård H (eds) Plant breeding for organic and sustainable, low-input agriculture: dealing with genotype-environment interactions, Book of Abstracts, EUCARPIA Symp Working Group Organic Plant Breeding, Nov 7–9. Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, p 18

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra R, Baenziger PS, Russell WK, Graybosch RA, Baltensperger DD, Eskridge KM (2006) Crossover interactions for grain yield in multienvironmental trials of winter wheat. Crop Sci 46:1291–1298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moll RH, Kamprath EJ, Jackson WA (1982) Analysis and interpretation of factors which contribute to efficiency of nitrogen utilization. Agron J 74:562–564

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberforster M (2003) Verfahren der Wertprüfung für den ökologischen Landbau in Österreich. In: Bundessortenamt (ed) Sortenwertprüfungen für den ökologischen Landbau, Workshop, May 14–15, Hannover, Germany, pp 20–27

  • Oberforster M (2006) Ist die Sortenzulassungsprüfung biogerecht? Österreichische Fachtagung für biologische Landwirtschaft, Mar 21–22. HBLFA für Landwirtschaft Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Irdning, Austria, pp 15–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberforster M, Plakolm G, Söllinger J, Werteker M (2000) Are descriptions of conventional variety testing suitable for organic farming? In: Alföldi T, Lockeretz W, Niggli U (eds) The world grows organic, Proceedings of the 13th International IFOAM Scientific Conference. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland, p 242

  • Osman AM, Lammerts van Bueren ET (2003) A participatory approach to designing and implementing organic ‘Value for Culivation and Use’ research. In: Lammerts van Bueren ET, Wilbois K-P (eds) Proceedings of the ECO-PB 1st International Symposium on Organic seed production and plant breeding—strategies, problems and perspectives, Nov 21–22, 2002. European Consortium of Organic Plant Breeding, Driebergen/Frankfurt, The Netherlands/Germany, pp 46–49

  • Przystalski M, Osman A, Thiemt EM, Rolland B, Ericson L, Østergård H, Levy L, Wolfe M, Büchse A, Piepho HP, Krajewski P (2008) Comparing the performance of cereal varieties in organic and non-organic cropping systems in different European countries. Euphytica. doi:10.1007/s10681-008-9715-4

  • Richardson MD, Karcher DE, Purcell LC (2001) Quantifying turfgrass cover using digital image analysis. Crop Sci 41:1882–1888

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwaerzel R, Levy L, Menzi M, Anders M, Winzeler H, Dörnte J (2006) Winterweizensorten im biologischen und extensiven Anbau. Agrar Forschung 13:68–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinebo W, Gretzmacher R, Edelbauer A (2002) Environment of selection for grain yield in low fertilizer input in barley. Field Crop Res 74:151–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith A, Cullis B, Thompson R (2002) Exploring variety-environment data using random effects AMMI models with adjustment for spatial field trend: Part 1: Theory. In: Kang MS (ed) Quantitative genetics. genomics and plant breeding. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK, pp 323–335

    Google Scholar 

  • Spanakakis A (1990) Grain yield and quality characters of genotypes in F5 generation under low and high nitrogen input. In: El Bassam N, Dambroth M, Loughman BC (eds) Genetic aspects of plant mineral nutrition. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 147–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Spanakakis A, Viedt A (1990) Performance of winter wheat cultivars under reduced nitrogen conditions. In: El Bassam N, Dambroth M, Loughman BC (eds) Genetic aspects of plant mineral nutrition. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 465–473

    Google Scholar 

  • Surböck A, Grausgruber H, Freyer B (2003) Zuchtziele, Züchtungskriterien und Bewertung von Züchtungsmethoden. Saatgut für den Biologischen Landbau. ARGE Bio-Landbau, Wien, Austria, pp 1–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Ud-Din N, Carver BF, Clutter AC (1992) Genetic analysis and selection for wheat yield in drought-stressed and irrigated environments. Euphytica 62:89–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe M, Baresel JP, Desclaux D, Goldringer I, Hoad S, Kovacs G, Löschenberger F, Miedaner T, Østergård H, Lammerts van Bueren E (2008) Developments in breeding cereals for organic agriculture. Euphytica. doi:10.1007/s10681-008-9690-9

  • Yan W, Kang MS (2003) GGE Biplot analysis. A graphical tool for breeders, geneticists. and agronomists. CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Yonezawa K (1983) Practical implication of improving the precision of genotype assessment in selection–a theory. Euphytica 32:543–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

BFOA was established within projects financially supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (Project No. 1315). The authors are grateful to W. Hartl, BioForschung Austria, for his efforts in coordinating the latter project. We would like to especially thank M. Oberforster, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), for his efforts for implementation of an organic VCU test in Austria. Discussion and knowledge transfer was supported by the COST860-SUSVAR action. The authors acknowledge valuable contribution of anonymous reviewers and the guest editors of this special issue.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saatzucht Donau GmbH & CoKG, Zuchtstation Probstdorf, Saatzuchtstr. 11, 2301, Probstdorf, Austria

    Franziska Löschenberger, Andreas Fleck, Herbert Hetzendorfer, Julia Lafferty, Marion Marn, Georg Pfaffinger & Johann Birschitzky

  2. Department of Applied Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria

    Heinrich Grausgruber

  3. Biologischer Landbau, Dörfles 3, 2253, Weikendorf, Austria

    Gerhard Hof

  4. Saatzucht Donau GmbH & CoKG, Zuchtstation Reichersberg, 4981, Reichersberg/Inn 86, Austria

    Anton Neumayer

Authors
  1. Franziska Löschenberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andreas Fleck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Heinrich Grausgruber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Herbert Hetzendorfer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gerhard Hof
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Julia Lafferty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Marion Marn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Anton Neumayer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Georg Pfaffinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Johann Birschitzky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Franziska Löschenberger.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Löschenberger, F., Fleck, A., Grausgruber, H. et al. Breeding for organic agriculture: the example of winter wheat in Austria. Euphytica 163, 469–480 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-008-9709-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-008-9709-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation