Contract Period : 01/04/2008 - 30/03/2013
Main Funder : Defra
ORC Staff Contact : Thomas Döring
We study the yield, quality, and stability of wheat Composite Cross Populations (CCPs) under high and low input over a range of environments through phenotypic and genotypic analyses and develop the processing capabilities of CCPs for various end users.
The overall aim of the project is to improve the performance and stability of performance of winter wheat under environmental conditions that are forecast to become more unpredictable and more costly to ameliorate through inputs. This will be achieved by determining the performance and stability of performance of wheat Composite Cross Populations (CCPs) over a wide range of environmental conditions and relating this to phenotypic and genotypic analyses. This aim includes determination of the application, processing and marketing capabilities of the CCPs for end users.
ORC is leading the project and conducting field trials on 3 field sites in Suffolk (Wakelyns Agroforestry) and on an additional site in Berkshire.
Research Partners
John Innes Centre (JIC)
The Arable Group (NIAB-TAG)
Industry partners
Bread Matters
CPB Twyford
Crisp Malting Group
Dove’s Farm Foods East Haydon Farm
Farmeco
HGCA
LEAF
Letheringsett Watermill New Houses Farm
Nickerson-Advanta (UK)
Norton Organic Grain
Organic Arable Marketing Company
Organic Farmers & Growers
Progressive Farming Trust Ltd
RAGT Seeds
Rushall Farms
Shipton Mill
Soil Association Certification
Soil Association
The Arable Group
W & H Marriage & Sons
Wakelyns Agroforestry
Döring TF, Pautasso M, Finckh MR, Wolfe MS. 2012. Pest and disease management in organic farming: implications and inspirations for plant breeding. In Lammerts van Bueren E & Myers J (eds.). Organic Crop Breeding. Wiley (in press).
Döring TF, Knapp S, Kovacs G, Wolfe MS, Murphy K. 2011. Evolutionary plant breeding in cereals – into a new era. Sustainability 3: 1944-1971
Döring TF, Crowley O, Wolfe M. 2011. Against the grain. Organic Farming 107: 42-43.
Howlett, S, Döring TF, Winkler L, Wolfe M. 2010. Breeding biodiversity. The Organic Research Centre Bulletin 103: 6-7.
Döring T F, Wolfe, M. 2009. Stabilising wheat yields – can genetic diversity increase reliability of wheat performance? The Arable Group Research Bulletin 22: 10-11.
Döring T, Grosse M, Wolfe M 2010. Growing together – evolution of plant height in wheat composite cross populations. In: Goldringer I, Lammerts van Bueren E (Eds.): Breeding for resilience: a strategy for organic and low-input farming sytems? Eucarpia 2nd Conference of the Organic and Low-Input Agriculture Section. 1-3 December 2010. Paris, France; p 35.
Wolfe M, Döring TF 2010. Steps towards an ecological future. In: Goldringer I, Lammerts van Bueren E (Eds.): Breeding for resilience: a strategy for organic and low-input farming sytems? Eucarpia 2nd Conference of the Organic and Low-Input Agriculture Section. 1-3 December 2010. Paris, France; pp 38-41.
Döring TF, Wolfe M, Jones H, Pearce H, Zhan J 2010. Breeding for resilience in wheat – Nature’s choice. In: Goldringer I, Lammerts van Bueren E (Eds.): Breeding for resilience: a strategy for organic and low-input farming sytems? Eucarpia 2nd Conference of the Organic and Low-Input Agriculture Section. 1-3 December 2010. Paris, France; pp 45-48.
Döring T F. 2010. Genetic, ecological and economic approaches to improve yield reliability in cereals. Organic Producer Conference. 8-9. Jan. 2010, Harper Adams College, UK.
Apart from Defra funding, the project obtains in-kind contributions from all industrial partners (see separate list)
