The Process of Cultivar Development and Seed Multiplication
The process of developing new pasture grasses and legume cultivars involves a complex series of steps ranging from germplasm screening, crossing, selection through to seed multiplication and is a costly and lengthy process, often underestimated by farmers.
In New Zealand private companies work alongside research institutes such as AgResearch to develop technologically advanced species like ryegrasses (that include novel AR1 endophyte) and white clovers that are acclaimed the world over.
Quite simply, to continue to research and develop these kinds of breakthroughs with pasture plants, considerable money needs to be invested. Private companies and AgResearch can pay between $1-2 million to develop a successful cultivar but the royalty gathered from farmers buying the seed recoups their investment and provides further funding for new research.
However, there will always be a small portion of farmers who try to sidestep paying royalties for proprietary seed by keeping their own seed or alternatively on-selling it to other farmers. These farmers and the farmers who decide to purchase from them are playing a high risk game and it is felt that many do not know how the process of developing a new cultivar works and how their actions damage the future advancements in the industry -not just for them but for all farmers.
The first step in a breeding programme is to clearly define the desired traits of the new grass or clover cultivar. For example, farmers may want a new perennial ryegrass which grows in the winter and summer, persistent under sheep grazing and contains the novel AR1 endophyte.
The next step in the journey is to source the right plant material (germplasm) to match those desired traits. An important resource of germplasm in New Zealand is the Margot Forde Forage Germplasm Centre at AgResearch in Palmerston North which maintains a large seed collection of forage species important to New Zealands pastoral industry. The private seed companies also have large collections of seed, particularly ryegrass species as this is the dominant grass in our pastoral industry. Breeders also source seed from germplasm centres throughout the world.
The third stage of the programme involves crossing the plant material to gain the best combinations of plant genetics from which to select a new cultivar. It takes two years to carry out this stage and generally three years from conception to this point in the programme.
Stage four is perhaps one of the most difficult but interesting stages in the process as plants from the crosses are tested in the field under animal grazing at a number of research stations throughout New Zealand. This is the time when scientists identify the plants carrying the desired traits and as persistence is important it can take up to 3 years.
Finally, a group of elite parents are identified and removed to an isolation area to be intercrossed together to form a new experimental selection.
Most new perennial ryegrasses now have a safe endophyte such as AR1 inserted into them. This can be done at the end of the breeding, when the endophyte is inserted into the elite parent plants before they are finally isolated. This inoculation process further adds on another year to the breeding process. So it is a minimum seven year timeframe to get the cultivar to the point of seed multiplication for commercial release.
Evaluation and seed multiplication
The isolation of the new experimental selection of ryegrass will provide half to one kilogram of seed to begin seed multiplication. These days a process called parallel multiplication is common. This means that while a portion of the half kilogram of the new selection is sown in small plots compared with existing cultivars (controls) at testing sites around New Zealand, a second portion of seed is being multiplied in readiness for commercial release.
The seed multiplication process from nucleus, to breeders, to basic seed takes three years and is running in parallel with the evaluation trials. Parallel multiplication can speed up the development of cultivar by up to 2 years but does carry significant risk should the selection perform poorly against the control cultivars, which can mean that selection is scrapped. Breeders safeguard themselves by having more than one experimental selection from which to finally choose a cultivar.
If parallel multiplication doesnt take place, plot evaluation can take up to 3 years and seed multiplication from 500gms, to 500kgs, to 10 tonne, to 200 tonne can take another 3 years which can a further six years to the development.
The first seed of the new ryegrass cultivar released to the pastoral farmer is called Basic seed and the following generation is called First Generation. Small amounts of breeders seed are continually being multiplied to provide Basic and First Generation seed to the farmers. Generally the entire development process takes about 10 years from conception to commercial cultivar release.
The Five Basic Steps To Developing A New Herbage Cultivar
Costs and commitment:
Wrightson plant breeding team leader and NZPBRA forage technical committee chairperson, Michael Norriss says it takes$1-2 million to put a new herbage cultivar in the market. Most private companies operate on making around 15% return (approx $300,000) on their research investment. To do that, royalties of around 12.5% per kilogram of seed would require approximately 480 tonnes of seed to be sold to make that return. Michael comments that the cultivar would need to be very successful to reach the above targets. He also says companies do not make as much out of proprietary cultivars as some people assume.
A large portion of the profits are re-invested into more research to develop cultivars. Generally a company such as Wrightson would aim to release two new cultivars a year. Overall around 20 forage cultivars are being developed across the industry each year.
Benefits:
Proprietary cultivars in New Zealand offer important advantages to the farming industry through:
- A broad choice of forage species and cultivars to fit farming practices.
- New forage technologies built into cultivars through breeding.
- Assurance of high quality seed and endophyte through the seed certification and National Seed laboratory systems.
- Re-investment into future cultivar development through royalty payments on seed.
Keith Widdup, AgResearch scientist and forage breeder, believes this is a fantastic delivery to farmers. All for just a small royalty charge on a kilogram of seed. For these reasons seed is extremely cheap in New Zealand.
The Back Door Cost:
While the Plant Variety Rights Act allows for farmers to save some of their own seed it does not allow them to on sell it. However UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) changed that basic rule in 1991 by also ruling out farmer saved seed World-wide. UPOV left it up to each country to change their individual act and Australia recently made those changes.
New Zealand has lagged behind in changing the legislation due to complexities within the act but it is hoped the act will be changed within the next two years. However, it is illegal to save seed containing novel endophyte as the endophyte organism has been patented and therefore permission must be sought by the merchant should the farmer wish to keep some seed.
There continues to be a moderate problem of a small number of farmers sidestepping the system, sometimes legally and sometimes illegally. Instances exist where Canterbury farmers have grown seed and put it in containers and sold it to the North Island. This kind of over the fence selling, if discovered by authorities, can lead to prosecution and a court trial. The advantage for farmers is cheaper seed, but the disadvantages far outweigh the cost saving farmers believe they are making and in some cases can add to them down the track.
Farmers do not know what they are buying and therefore could be buying seed that underperforms with a low germination. In the case of endophyte the problems could be very serious because endophyte seed needs to be stored correctly and quality control must be premium. Should farmers buy back door seed they could end up with wild endophyte in their paddock which leads to livestock disorders and end up costing the farmer greatly. Its different to buying cheap burnt software. Software can be a perfect copy and it will work but with seed you cant tell what you are buying. It can be any brown stuff in a bag and there is no comeback if it goes wrong, Michael says.
In New Zealand private companies work alongside research institutes such as AgResearch to develop technologically advanced species like ryegrasses (that include novel AR1 endophyte) and white clovers that are acclaimed the world over.
Quite simply, to continue to research and develop these kinds of breakthroughs with pasture plants, considerable money needs to be invested. Private companies and AgResearch can pay between $1-2 million to develop a successful cultivar but the royalty gathered from farmers buying the seed recoups their investment and provides further funding for new research.
However, there will always be a small portion of farmers who try to sidestep paying royalties for proprietary seed by keeping their own seed or alternatively on-selling it to other farmers. These farmers and the farmers who decide to purchase from them are playing a high risk game and it is felt that many do not know how the process of developing a new cultivar works and how their actions damage the future advancements in the industry -not just for them but for all farmers.
The first step in a breeding programme is to clearly define the desired traits of the new grass or clover cultivar. For example, farmers may want a new perennial ryegrass which grows in the winter and summer, persistent under sheep grazing and contains the novel AR1 endophyte.
The next step in the journey is to source the right plant material (germplasm) to match those desired traits. An important resource of germplasm in New Zealand is the Margot Forde Forage Germplasm Centre at AgResearch in Palmerston North which maintains a large seed collection of forage species important to New Zealands pastoral industry. The private seed companies also have large collections of seed, particularly ryegrass species as this is the dominant grass in our pastoral industry. Breeders also source seed from germplasm centres throughout the world.
The third stage of the programme involves crossing the plant material to gain the best combinations of plant genetics from which to select a new cultivar. It takes two years to carry out this stage and generally three years from conception to this point in the programme.
Stage four is perhaps one of the most difficult but interesting stages in the process as plants from the crosses are tested in the field under animal grazing at a number of research stations throughout New Zealand. This is the time when scientists identify the plants carrying the desired traits and as persistence is important it can take up to 3 years.
Finally, a group of elite parents are identified and removed to an isolation area to be intercrossed together to form a new experimental selection.
Most new perennial ryegrasses now have a safe endophyte such as AR1 inserted into them. This can be done at the end of the breeding, when the endophyte is inserted into the elite parent plants before they are finally isolated. This inoculation process further adds on another year to the breeding process. So it is a minimum seven year timeframe to get the cultivar to the point of seed multiplication for commercial release.
Evaluation and seed multiplication
The isolation of the new experimental selection of ryegrass will provide half to one kilogram of seed to begin seed multiplication. These days a process called parallel multiplication is common. This means that while a portion of the half kilogram of the new selection is sown in small plots compared with existing cultivars (controls) at testing sites around New Zealand, a second portion of seed is being multiplied in readiness for commercial release.
The seed multiplication process from nucleus, to breeders, to basic seed takes three years and is running in parallel with the evaluation trials. Parallel multiplication can speed up the development of cultivar by up to 2 years but does carry significant risk should the selection perform poorly against the control cultivars, which can mean that selection is scrapped. Breeders safeguard themselves by having more than one experimental selection from which to finally choose a cultivar.
If parallel multiplication doesnt take place, plot evaluation can take up to 3 years and seed multiplication from 500gms, to 500kgs, to 10 tonne, to 200 tonne can take another 3 years which can a further six years to the development.
The first seed of the new ryegrass cultivar released to the pastoral farmer is called Basic seed and the following generation is called First Generation. Small amounts of breeders seed are continually being multiplied to provide Basic and First Generation seed to the farmers. Generally the entire development process takes about 10 years from conception to commercial cultivar release.
The Five Basic Steps To Developing A New Herbage Cultivar
Costs and commitment:
Wrightson plant breeding team leader and NZPBRA forage technical committee chairperson, Michael Norriss says it takes$1-2 million to put a new herbage cultivar in the market. Most private companies operate on making around 15% return (approx $300,000) on their research investment. To do that, royalties of around 12.5% per kilogram of seed would require approximately 480 tonnes of seed to be sold to make that return. Michael comments that the cultivar would need to be very successful to reach the above targets. He also says companies do not make as much out of proprietary cultivars as some people assume.
A large portion of the profits are re-invested into more research to develop cultivars. Generally a company such as Wrightson would aim to release two new cultivars a year. Overall around 20 forage cultivars are being developed across the industry each year.
Benefits:
Proprietary cultivars in New Zealand offer important advantages to the farming industry through:
- A broad choice of forage species and cultivars to fit farming practices.
- New forage technologies built into cultivars through breeding.
- Assurance of high quality seed and endophyte through the seed certification and National Seed laboratory systems.
- Re-investment into future cultivar development through royalty payments on seed.
Keith Widdup, AgResearch scientist and forage breeder, believes this is a fantastic delivery to farmers. All for just a small royalty charge on a kilogram of seed. For these reasons seed is extremely cheap in New Zealand.
The Back Door Cost:
While the Plant Variety Rights Act allows for farmers to save some of their own seed it does not allow them to on sell it. However UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) changed that basic rule in 1991 by also ruling out farmer saved seed World-wide. UPOV left it up to each country to change their individual act and Australia recently made those changes.
New Zealand has lagged behind in changing the legislation due to complexities within the act but it is hoped the act will be changed within the next two years. However, it is illegal to save seed containing novel endophyte as the endophyte organism has been patented and therefore permission must be sought by the merchant should the farmer wish to keep some seed.
There continues to be a moderate problem of a small number of farmers sidestepping the system, sometimes legally and sometimes illegally. Instances exist where Canterbury farmers have grown seed and put it in containers and sold it to the North Island. This kind of over the fence selling, if discovered by authorities, can lead to prosecution and a court trial. The advantage for farmers is cheaper seed, but the disadvantages far outweigh the cost saving farmers believe they are making and in some cases can add to them down the track.
Farmers do not know what they are buying and therefore could be buying seed that underperforms with a low germination. In the case of endophyte the problems could be very serious because endophyte seed needs to be stored correctly and quality control must be premium. Should farmers buy back door seed they could end up with wild endophyte in their paddock which leads to livestock disorders and end up costing the farmer greatly. Its different to buying cheap burnt software. Software can be a perfect copy and it will work but with seed you cant tell what you are buying. It can be any brown stuff in a bag and there is no comeback if it goes wrong, Michael says.