Articles
THE ROLE OF THE PLANT BREEDER IN THE EVALUATION AND BREEDING OF NEW FLORICULTURAL CROPS
One of his main roles is to educate, develop, and encourage students to become plant breeders.
Although plant breeders are well educated in their field, they must interrelate with other disciplines, such as entomology and plant pathology, to produce a final product.
The traditional role-model of the plant breeder in the public sector of the floriculture world has been that of a horticulturist who recognized the assets and limitations of a particular crop and proceeded to make significant improvements in it by using classical genetic techniques.
As a horticulturist, he was expected to know how to attain the maximum quality and growth from the plant, whether it was to be used in the landscape, as a containerized specimen, or as a cut flower.
He had to know the method of propagation of the crop, its nutritional needs, any insect, fungus, viral, or bacterial problems (and their control), and the postharvest or postproduction qualities needed to make it a marketable product.
When plant breeders were trained as horticulturists with an interest in genetics, the ability and interest to grow a crop to its maximum potential were inherent.
As breeders and geneticists become more specialized, and as the plant sciences emphasize biotechnology (Frazier, 1985; Hess, 1984; Ryder, 1984; Vest, 1984), the breeders can easily lose touch with the plant and become more involved with the genetic system.
The classical horticultural plant breeder is not a relic as some suggest, since his training in genetics and experiences with plants are needed to develop the final plant used for floricultural production.
The plant breeder in public programs, in addition to research, generally is involved in many activities within his institution, such as teaching and extension.
Although not often recognized meritoriously or monetarily, the training of future plant breeders has to be one of the most important contributions of the plant breeder in public institutions (Brooks and Vest, 1985; Stroswider, 1984). This training should not only emphasize the basics of genetics, recombination, selection, and inheritance (Arisumi, 1978; Bobisud and Kamemoto, 1982; Ladd et al., 1984); breeding techniques and systems (Casali and Tigechelaar, 1975; Robacker and Ascher, 1981; Ronald and Ascher, 1975); genetic engineering (Bliss, 1984; Lawton and Chilton, 1984); and other forms of biotechnology (Arisumi, 1973, 1980; Grossman, 1983; Sink and Padmanabhan, 1977; Sink, 1984), but it should demonstrate, by example, how to recognize and produce the desirable attributes of the plant