Short-stature Corn: A Short-lived Fad or the Corn of the Future скачать в хорошем качестве

Short-stature Corn: A Short-lived Fad or the Corn of the Future

One way to achieve sustainably high crop yields is by planting cultivars with reduced height/stature. The major benefit of this trait stems largely from the ability of short plants to resist lodging, thereby allowing the adoption of optimal management approaches to maximize yields. The significance of the impact that this trait has had on crop productivity is best exemplifi ed by the development of dwarfi ng varieties of wheat and rice in the late ‘60s, which led to an era of food sufficiency, commonly referred to as Green Revolution. Although not the first one to study and commercially exploit dwarfing in agriculture, but the passion and efforts with which Norman Borlaug advocated the use of dwarfing wheat in Mexico and the Indian subcontinent to stave off mass starvation, won him the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, the dwarfing trait has become a staple for most cereal crops. However, there has been one gaping exception. Corn! It was neither due to the lack of intent or effort to exploit this trait in corn but dwarfing failed to be tamed in corn, eventually disappearing from the corn breeding lexicon altogether. This has changed in the past few years however, and there seems to unbridled enthusiasm for this trait once again. This comeback has been largely due to efforts at BAYER, who seem to be convinced that the next big thing for corn is short corn. Is this exuberance rational or irrational? I would like to address this by first exploring why initial efforts to make use of the dwarfing trait failed in corn. Secondly, what has changed now that will prevent the history from repeating. I think seeking answers to these questions is important if we are to realize the full potential of the trait of dwarfing in corn.