Multivariate analysis of long-term climate data in connection with yield, earliness and the problem of global warming

Climate change is the key challenge to agriculture in the XXI century. Future agricultural techniques in the Russian Federation should involve the optimization of land utilization. This optimization should apply algorithms for smart farming and take into consideration possible climate variations. Due to timely risk assessment, this approach would increase profitability and production sustainability of agricultural products without extra expenditures. Also, we should ground farming optimization not on available empirical data encompassing limited time intervals (month, year) or human personal evaluations but on the integral analysis of long-term information bodies using artificial intelligence. This article presents the results of a multivariate analysis of meteorological extremes which caused crop failures in Eastern and Western Europe in last 2600 years according to chronicle data and paleoreconstructions as well as reconstructions of heliophysical data for the last 9000 years. This information leads us to the conclusion that the current global warming will last for some time. However, subsequent climate changes may go in any direction. And cooling is more likely than warming; thus, we should be prepared to any scenario. Plant breeding can play a key role in solving food security problems connected with climate changes. Possible measures to adapt plant industry to the ongoing and expected climate changes are discussed. It is concluded that future breeding should be based on the use of highly adapted crops that have already been produced in pre-breeding programs, ready to meet future challenges caused by potential climate change.

Compensatory Effect of the ScGrf3-2R Gene in Semi-Dwarf Spring Triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack)

The dwarfness in many triticale cultivars is provided by the dominant Ddw1 (Dominant dwarf 1) allele found in rye. However, along with conferring semi-dwarf phenotype to improve resistance to lodging, this gene also reduces grain size and weight and delays heading and flowering. Grf (Growth-regulating factors) genes are plant-specific transcription factors that regulate plant growth, including stem growth, in terms of length and thickness, and leaf and fruit size. In this work, we partially sequenced the rye gene ScGrf3 on chromosome 2R homologous to the wheat Grf3 gene, and found multiple polymorphisms in intron 3 and exon 4 complying with two alternative alleles (haplotypes ScGrf3-2Ra and ScGrf3-2Rb). For the identification of these, we developed a codominant PCR marker. Using a new marker, we studied the effect of ScGrf3-2R alleles in combination with the Ddw1 dwarf gene on economically valuable traits in F₄ and F₅ recombinant lines of spring triticale from the hybrid combination Valentin 90 x Dublet, grown in the Non-Chernozem zone for 2 years. Allele ScGrf3-2Ra was associated with greater thousand-grain weight, higher spike productivity, and earlier heading and flowering, which makes ScGrf3-2R a perspective compensator for negative effects of Ddw1 on these traits and increases prospects for its involvement in breeding semi-dwarf cultivars of triticale.

Plant breeding is the food security basis in the Russian Federation

This issue of the Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding is composed of reports of top Russian breeders delivered at the scientific session of the RAS Department of Agricultural Sciences “Scientific support of the efficient development of crop breeding and seed production in the Russian Federation” held in Moscow on December 7, 2020.

Scientific support to plant breeding and seed production in Siberia in the XXI century

Agriculture in the Russian Federation is fundamental to the country’s economic performance, living standards, the wellbeing of people and state safety. Considerations relating to food security, prospects of and challenges before plant breeding in the Siberian Federal District (SFD), the largest agricultural area of the Russian Federation, are provided in the article. The agricultural area used in the SFD is about 50 million hectares and accounts for 13 % of the country’s gross grain production. The need for the introduction of modern molecular biological methods, bioengineering and IT technology is demonstrated and discussed. As Russia as a whole, Siberia is largely engaged in unpromising extensive farming practices, which rely on natural soil fertility, and this factor should be taken into account. Another issue is noncompliance with intensive farming technologies used for cultivating new-generation commercial cultivars. Although capital investments in plant breeding are the most cost effective investments in crop production, breeders’ efforts remain underfunded. The article explains the need for fundamental reform in this economic sector: the recognition of plant breeding as being a fundamental science; a fair increase in its funding; the development of a breeding strategy, nationally and regionally; the further expansion of the network of the Breeding Centers; the re-establishment and improvement of the universities’ departments specialized in plant breeding and seed production; having more state-funded places in the universities for training plant breeders to be able to maintain and cement the country’s advanced position in plant breeding and to develop new globally competitive next-generation cultivars of main crops. Should these issues be ignored, all the problems that have accumulated to date will lead to risks of long-term instability in this economic sector. The need for the careful preservation of continuity in plant breeders and plants being bred is stated. The regulatory functions of the state and agricultural science in plant breeding, plant industry and seed production are considered.

TaGRF3-2A Improves Some Agronomically Valuable Traits in Semi-Dwarf Spring Triticale

The breeding improvement of triticale is tightly associated with the introgression of dwarfing genes, in particular, gibberellin (GA)-insensitive Ddw1 from rye. Despite the increase in harvest index and resistance to lodging, this gene adversely affects grain weight and size. Growth regulation factor (GRF) genes are plant-specific transcription factors that play an important role in plant growth, including GA-induced stem elongation. This study presents the results of a two-year field experiment to assess the effect of alleles of the TaGRF3-2A gene in interaction with DDW1 on economically valuable traits of spring triticale plants grown in the Non-Chernozem zone. Our results show that, depending on the allelic state, the TaGRF3-2A gene in semi-dwarf spring triticale plants influences the thousand grain weight and the grain weight of the main spike in spring triticale, which makes it possible to use it to compensate for the negative effects of the dwarfing allele Ddw1. The identified allelic variants of the TaGRF3-2A gene can be included in marker-assisted breeding for triticale to improve traits.