Breeding for specific bioregions: a genotype by environment study of horticultural and nutritional traits integrating breeder and farmer priorities for organic broccoli cultivar improvement

Summary

The genotype by environment interaction study of broccoli, amongst others demonstrates that traits of a cultivar are sometimes ranked differently when grown in an organic production system compared to a conventional system. This has strong implications for breeding strategies. The breeders interviewed acknowledged that more attention on abiotic and biotic stress resistance in a broccoli breeding programme is needed which is in accordance with the farmers' varietal requirements. The first findings of the field trials show that cultivar performance is influenced by season and region, and differences in treatment (organic versus conventional management). The field trials showed that there are cultivars with broad adaptation such as "Green Goliath". These cultivars performed across locations, seasons and treatments within the sub-top group, however, organic farmers would benefit more from cultivars specifically adapted to their region and season. The trial results showed a wide range of glucosinolate levels. Glucoraphanin was very genotype dependent, while glucobrassicin and neoglucobrassicin were more influenced by abiotic and biotic environmental factors. Therefore, there are opportunities for nutritional performance enhancement under organic conditions which would provide an added value to the product quality with respect to human and plant health. Further elaboration of the dataset will contribute to the design of regional breeding strategies for improved broccoli cultivars for the organic market.