|
 Martin Bohn, associate professor in the Department of Crop
Sciences at Illinois, will partner with scientists Paul Scott of
the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Thomas Lübberstedt of
Iowa State University, and Angela Linares from the University of
Puerto Rico-Mayaguez on the four-year grant.
The award is part of a $17 million national initiative to
improve yields, quality, and profitability for producers and
processors who use organic standards. The project builds on the
germplasm, methods, and technologies Bohn and the other
researchers developed in previous OREI projects.
Corn is the second largest organic grain/seed crop in the U.S.
behind wheat. However, only a small proportion of the seed sold
to organic farmers is produced using certified organic
practices. While several seed companies sell seed that can be
used in certified organic systems, few of the varieties
available were developed specifically for organic production
systems or have been evaluated in organic-production
environments.
Bohn has been working for years, under previous federal grants,
to develop new sources of corn seed suitable for organic
conditions. His corn has been trialed on-farm across the Midwest
as part of a participatory research network meant to refine key
breeding traits for organic corn growing systems.
“Breeding corn takes time! Using traditional breeding
approaches, it might take a decade or even more from the initial
cross to a commercial hybrid. In our current OREI project, we
were able to set up a solid base for an effective organic corn
breeding program,” Bohn says. “Front and center are the
relationships with organic farmers in Illinois, Indiana, and
Wisconsin. These farmers test our hybrids and provide us with
valuable feedback. So, we learned what traits are important, and
what germplasm works and what doesn’t.
“With this new project, we have the opportunity not only to
continue the work we started three years ago, but to accelerate
our breeding programs. And I am excited about the new ways we
found to extend our relationships with organic farmers.”
The new project will go further to develop
three-way hybrids even better matched to organic seed production
systems than the single-cross hybrids currently marketed by most
companies. The research team is focused on developing hybrids
that carry traits desired by organic farmers, especially those
identified as priorities during stakeholder meetings the
researchers held as they prepared the proposal. These traits
include high levels of the essential nutrient methionine and the
ability to withstand weed pressure. Another goal is to create a
mechanism for organically grown corn to resist pollination by
transgenic pollen floating in from conventional fields, which
results in huge losses for organic farmers.
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A unique aspect of the project will be two Organic
Corn Breeding Boot Camps held at a cooperating winter nursery site
in Puerto Rico. Farmers, business representatives, and student
interns in Puerto Rico, will be invited to the boot camps to produce
seed and plan on-farm trials in the Midwest for the following year.
The interns will then travel to the farmers' locations the next
summer to assist with the trials.
“This is one of the most exciting components of the research,” Scott
says. “It’s a rare chance for people who don’t usually interact to
dive deep into the process and learn from each other. We will all be
students and teachers together.”
The researchers expect the support for the winter nursery in Puerto
Rico, where two to three generations of corn can be grown annually,
will help establish it as a long-term plant breeding resource.
“This work is important to the organic production industry,” says
Alix Paez, a private corn breeder with Genetic Enterprises
International (GEI) located in Luther, Iowa, which works with non-GMO
conventional and specialty corn hybrids for the central Corn Belt.
“The seed industry has not put enough resources to accelerate
creation of new hybrids and varieties for the organic farmer. These
OREI-funded projects have been a very valuable resource to develop
new products for the seed industry and the organic farmers that need
these hybrids.”
The hybrids and test-crosses developed in the study will be
evaluated under organic conditions in Illinois, Iowa, and Puerto
Rico, where they will be monitored to select for a variety of
desired traits, including pest resistance, tolerance to stress
factors, lodging tolerance, and ability to set seed.
The results of the project will be publicly accessible to
researchers and breeders around the world.
The Department of Crop Sciences is in the College of Agricultural,
Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.
[Sources: Martin Bohn, Paul Scott and
Thomas Lubberstedt
News writer: Lauren Quinn] |
