2014 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com MARCH 27, 2014 23
Wild plant to super seed
A new chapter in crop production
T
he recent Winter Olympics illustrated the kind of
spirit you also find in the American farmer: all
hardworking individuals, as well as part of a larger
team, utilizing the intelligence and resources of other
professions to win.
Show a farmer a need, whether it is to feed a hungry
world, improve livestock feed or supply cleaner
renewable fuels, and the farmer will get the job done.
And then, with little more than a nod, he or she moves
on to the next big challenge.
Yes, farmers by nature love a challenge, as do
scientists. The two groups combined are a force
leading the world to more and better quality
agricultural products.
A brief look at plant evolution
Archaeological history shows that plants, and animals,
have changed and adapted ever since the beginning of
time.
Everyone knows from Biology 101 that when plants
bloom, cross-pollination is provided by insects, wind
and rain, and when the seeds grow into new plants,
they often show different traits. Asexual propagation
of roots, stems and leaves occurring in nature has also
led to plant changes. Plant sports, or bud sports, are
another naturally occurring shift providing variants
in foliage, fruit, blossom colors, growing habits and
other plant characteristics.
Some plant changes are responses to change of
environment. For example, the leaves of plants in
sunny, arid environments are often either thicker or
fleshy, and have a waxier coating for protection from
wind and sun.
As far back as known human history, man has
been cultivating plants for improved aesthetics
and medicinal use, as well as food, fiber or fuel
production. Cultigens are the result of plant breeding
and are the base for the word “cultivars” from
cultivated varieties.
The 1930s to 1996
Expanded scientific understanding of genetic traits and
breeding in the 1930s brought about more aggressive
measures to selectively crossbreed for desired
characteristics in both plant and animal reproduction.
However, the process was slow. For corn and
soybeans, cross-pollination was a random gamble
made season after season. The hit-and-miss approach
took decades.
The deliberate, repeatable, self-fertilization pollination
between two pure lines is an F1 hybrid.
Genetic engineering
With the combined introduction of the electron
microscope and the computer age, the technological
age dawned. The next wave of knowledge and
capability launched agriculture production
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