Wheat breeding in Latvia

Vija Strazdiņa

State Stende Cereal Breeding Institute

2012

Start of the wheat breeding

Priekuļi Breeding Station

1922

Kārlis Vīgants

Erna Eglīte

Kārlis Lode

Stende Breeding Station 1923-1924

Wheat breeders Jurijs Garbars

and Emils Berziņš

The main goal of wheat breeding

The main goal

- new high yielding winter and spring wheat varieties, characterized with good lodging and diseases resistance, grain quality suitable for food or feed.

The main tasks of the wheat breeding

• Collect and investigate local material (landraces) from different districts of Latvia

• Test and evaluate suitability of foreign varieties to Latvian agroclimatical conditions

• Initiate breeding work (selection of elite plants from local forms and foreign varieties)

• Apply hybridization methods

Ancestors of the first Latvian wheat

varieties Winter wheat

‘Söl’ ( Swalöf Sweden), characterised by good resistance to lodging, but week winter hardiness.

‘Sandomiras’ (Poland) had a low lodging resistance, but good winter hardiness and baking quality.

‘Kuverta’ (Eastern Prussia) had a lodging resistance, relatively good winter hardiness, but poor baking quality.

Local winter wheat material with white awned (graecum Körn), white awnless (albidum Al., lutescens Al.) and red awned forms

Spring wheat

‘Janetzki’ (Valtdorf Germany) or local variety from Hungary had a good lodging resistance.

‘Rubin’( Swalöf Sweden) had a rezistance to Ustilago nuda (Jens).

‘Diamant’ (Swalöf Sweden) had a good lodging resistance and rezistance to Ustilago nuda (Jens).

‘Kitcener’ (Canada), ‘Extra Kolben ’ (Sweden)

Local spring wheat material

The first Latvian wheat varieties

1925-1940 Variety

Winter wheat

Originators Variety spring

wheat

Originators

Viestura I (1929) select. from Sandomira wh.

J. Garbars Imanta (1933) Select. From Aurora

J. Garbars

Zemgales (1930) Select. from local wh.

J. Garbars Stendes Nr.439

(1932) Extra Kolben/Aurora

J. Garbars

Viestura II (1937) select. from Sandomira wh.

J. Garbars

E. Bērziņš

Stendes Nr.1143

(1932) Select. fromJanetzki kviešiem

J. Garbars

Priekuļu (1927) Select. from local wh.

K. Vīgants Priekuļu (1932) Select. from local wh.

K. Vīgants

E. Eglīte

K. Lode

Wheat breeding methods

1945-1960

• Selection of branched wheat

• Wheat transformation (spring to

winter type and winter to spring

type)

• Vegetative hybridization- grafting

wheat germs on the endosperm of

other plant species (Triticum

timopheevii (Zhuk) Zhuk, Triticum

dicoccum (Shrank) Schucbl.),

branched wheat, rye

• Treating wheat grain with

radiation

Branched wheat

Branched wheat

Wheat breeding methods

1970-1990

• Winter hardiness – cold resistance

(field – laboratory test)

• Resistance to fungal disease (on the

artificial background Tilletia tritici

(Bjerk), Puccinia tritici

(Eriks&Henn) (race 77, 76), snow

mould Fussarium nivale (Fr.) (Ces)

• Resistance to Oscinella frit (Linn)

• Lodging resistance - using

laboratory methods

• Grain quality- suitable for feed

(Lysin content)

The aim of current wheat breeding- employing classic and biotechnology methods, to create and

introduce into production winter and spring wheat varieties

adapted for conventional and organic management, with grain

quality corresponding to food industry requirements and to

evaluate and maintain Latvian wheat genetic resources.

Wheat breeding methods

• Enlarging of wheat genetic resources in breeding programs (agreements with CIMMYT, ICARDA and Oregon State University USA, newiest varieties from abroad)

• Introduction of new grain quality testing methods for different end use products

• From 2000 the new methods of biotechnology (doubled haploids, DH) were employed in wheat breeding programs with the aim to speed up the breeding process.

Results of wheat breeding

From 1990 to 2010 at the State Stende CBI the

4325 winter wheat crossing combinations were

done and 125 456 fertile seeds were obtained.

The average of fertility was 35.4%.

The 1765 spring wheat crossing combinations

were done and 84 200 seeds were obtained. The

average of fertility was 32.8%.

Results of wheat breeding

• During 90 years 16 winter and 11 spring

wheat varieties of bread wheat (Tr.

aestivum L.) have been originated at

Priekuļi and Stende, and introduced into

the market.

Wheat varieties registered from 2000

Winter wheat

‘Krista’

‘Sakta’

‘Banga S’

‘Moda’ (‘Otto’)

‘Fredis’

Spring Wheat

‘Uffo’

‘Robijs’

“Banga S”

Winter wheat ‘Fredis’ Donskaja Polukarļikovaja/Lowrin//Abe

Registered in Latvian Plant Cataloque from 2007 and in

Estonian Plant Catalogue from 2011

Good winter hardiness (7-9 point)

Earliness (growing period 212-215

days from 01.01.)

Yield in average is 6.0 t ha-1

Grain quality is suitable for food.

Spring wheat ‘Uffo’

Sigma/Eta

Registered in Latvian Plant Cataloque from 2008. and in

Estonian Plant Catalogue from 2009

Midle-early

Grain yield 6.0-8.0 t ha-1

Grain quality is suitable for food and

feed

Stable Falling Number in unfavorable

meteorological conditions

Spring wheat ‘Robijs’ (Dragon/Annina//Fasan)Fasan

Developed in collaboration with

the Institute of Biology Latvian University

Registered in Latvian Plant Cataloque from 2011

Midle-early

Grain yield 7.0-8.0 t ha-1

Grain quality is suitable for

food and feed

Winter wheat variety under testing

‘Edvins’

Good winter hardiness (7-9

point)

Earliness (growing period

214-216 days from 01.01.)

Yield in average is 8.0 t ha-1

Grain quality is suitable for

food.

WHQ91058/OR908173 State testing from 2009

Winter wheat variety under testing

‘Talsis’

Good winter hardiness

(7 point)

Yield in average is 8.0 t ha-1

Grain quality is suitable for

food and feed

Veselanka/Nadzeja State testing from 2009

Thank you for

your attention!

Breeding for

future...