Table 4.
Activities involved in a traditional breeding strategy compared with a simple example of how genomic selection (GS) could be employed in a breeding program. The number of years involved in each activity for the two strategies is shown. Information for traditional breeding is adapted from Topp, Hardner [13]. RVT, regional variety trial; SPT, seedling progeny trial
| Year | Traditional breeding | Genomic selection |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cross parents, grow seedlings | Cross parents, grow seedlings |
| 2 | Age 1: Plant SPT | Genotype, select seedlings using GS |
| 3 | Age 2: Trial maintenance | Propagate RVT |
| 4 | Age 3: Trial maintenance | Age 1: Plant RVT |
| 5 | Age 4: Field evaluations | Age 2: Trial maintenance |
| 6 | Age 5: Field evaluations | Age 3: Trial maintenance |
| 7 | Age 6: Field evaluations | Age 4: Field evaluations |
| 8 | Age 7: Field evaluations | Age 5: Field evaluations |
| 9 | Age 8: Field evaluations, select seedlings | Age 6: Field evaluations |
| 10 | Propagate RVT | Age 7: Field evaluations |
| 11 | Age 1: Plant RVT | Age 8: Field evaluations |
| 12 | Age 2: Trial maintenance | Age 9: Field evaluations |
| 13 | Age 3: Trial maintenance | Age 10: Field evaluations |
| 14 | Age 4: Field evaluations | Release |
| 15 | Age 5: Field evaluations | |
| 16 | Age 6: Field evaluations | |
| 17 | Age 7: Field evaluations | |
| 18 | Age 8: Field evaluations | |
| 19 | Age 9: Field evaluations | |
| 20 | Age 10: Field evaluations | |
| 21 | Release |