Introduction

In this chapter, we will examine how we might progress beyond the present unsatisfactory state of plant breeding. In doing so, we should free up breeders to use the best of modern technology and scientific knowledge, while using such tools to address the key important challenges confronting twenty-first century agriculture. From our previous analysis, we can identify three serious issues relating to the evolution of plant breeding R&D over the past few decades. First, there is the withdrawal of the public sector from most aspects of practical research in many major countries, and the consequent academisation of much of its work. The dire straits of practical plant research and breeding are seen most acutely in Europe and Australasia. Although the problem is less marked in the USA, where a somewhat reduced, but still relatively vigorous and effective, practically orientated public sector continues to function, things could be greatly improved here as well to harness the full potential of researchers. Indeed, across the world, public sector bodies need to adopt a much more practical and outward-looking attitude towards plant breeding and crop improvement.

The second issue is the gap between an increasingly academically inclined public sector and a rather uncertain commercial private sector that appears to be in transition from its current seed-based, input trait dominated business models.