IMPROVING WHEAT
New Methods Studied
New njethods of wheat improvement which may be of considerable importance in cereal breeding systems of the future.ai’e being investigated by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, says a circular from the departinent. Distinct from the usual method of producing improved strains by inducing new combinations of hereditary chromosomes through hybridisation, the new methods being investigated involve the transference of pairs of whole chromosomes among established wheats in an attempt to control and improve characteristics, says the circular. The method can also extend to the replacement of whole groups of chromosome pairs with similar groups from species allied to wheat, such as cereal rye and Agropyron grasses, giving rise to entirely new types of cereal crop plants, it says. Dr. J. M McEwan, of the Crop Research Division, is in charge of the work. He recently did research on these new techniques at the University of Manitoba, Canada.
The new types so far tested in some cases show many desirable characteristics but still require much improvement before they are acceptable as a commercial crop, the circular says.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CII, Issue 30156, 13 June 1963, Page 7
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183IMPROVING WHEAT Press, Volume CII, Issue 30156, 13 June 1963, Page 7
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