Unconfirmed Field Observations (UFOs)

Abstract

Unfortunately, unconfirmed field observations (UFOs) have become a part of crop science research. One source of UFOs are winning crop yield reports from farmer yield contests. Some of these reported yields are simply much more than is possible for the solar energy input to the crop. Another source of UFOs are attempts to evaluate the yield benefit gained from a genetic transformation. A genotype that is readily suited for transformation is selected, transformed lines are developed, expression of the gene is documented, and plants are grown to test for yield change. These tests can be in controlled environments, which are unlike field conditions in many ways. Some tests are actually done in the field but the field plots ignore long-established protocol to obtain acceptable yield data. For example, bordering on all four sides of a quadrate harvested for yield might be inadequate, or even nonexistent. Further, yield results for a transformation must be tested against the yield of high-yielding commercial cultivars, not the usually weak genotype that was originally transformed. Additional considerations are the number of replications, the size of the plots, and inclusion of a sufficient number of ‘environments’ to reflect the environmental variability to which a commercial product might be eventually subjected.