Plant Breeding and Genetics Group, Michigan State University

March 9-11, 2005
Symposium on Plant Breeding and the Public Sector: Who will train plant breeders?
The Henry Center for Executive Development - Michigan State University - East Lansing, Michigan

There has been increasing worry globally about who will train plant breeders in the future. To date, much of the training has been provided in North American Universities, but the number of public breeders is steadily declining. This situation was dramatically portrayed in a recent news feature in the journal Nature entitled “A dying breed.”

The reason for the decline in plant breeding programs is complex, but revolves around two primary factors. First, as plant breeders retire, they are being replaced by scientists involved in more basic genetic studies. This shift is fueled by the perception that private sector breeding efforts are adequate to meet cultivar needs.  Second, cuts in University resources have led to reduced support of Extension field programs, and this has pushed the current crop of public plant breeders to shift their activities towards fundamental/basic studies that can be supported by federal grants and private sector.

The loss of plant breeding programs is of great concern to both our domestic plant breeding industry and the international community. A substantial proportion of the plant breeders in developing nations were trained at U.S. Universities, and almost all the private North American breeders attended Land Grant Universities. The bottom line is that we must find a way to keep a critical mass of applied geneticists and plant breeders at public universities in the U.S. and around the world, if we are to maintain our graduate programs in plant breeding.

What is needed is a partnership among the Land Grant Universities, private breeding companies and international programs that will support our plant breeding training programs. To have this happen, the interested parties need to get together and have a dialog that results in the development of a roadmap. We are hosting a symposium at MSU that will discuss this critical issue and initiate some positive steps to address this issue. To make sure that all the major stakeholders are involved, we intend to contact members of the entire plant breeding community, including private breeding programs, major commodity groups, international training centers and University breeders.

Our keynote speakers will be:

Dr. P. Stephen Baenziger (Eugene W. Price Distinguished Professor, University of Nebraska) - Plant Breeding Training in North America

Dr. Fred Bliss (Senior Director, R & D Special Projects, Seminis Seeds and former Will W. Lester Endowed Chair at The University of California) – Plant Breeding in the Private Sector

Gurdev Khush (Former Head of Plant Breeding at IRRI and World Food Prize 1996) –Plant Breeding Training in the International Sector

We will all come together in the evening of March 9 for an informal reception. The next day our thinking will be focused by the keynote addresses of Drs. Baenziger, Bliss and Khush, and then we will form breakout groups to discuss five topics.

1) What kind of training do plant breeders need?
2) What is the most effective balance between classical and molecular training?
3) Should the training differ between domestic and international students?
4) How will we provide improved varieties of subsistence crops?
5) How can the private and public sector most effectively partner to train new generations of plant breeders?

On the third day, the breakout groups will report to all the attendees on their recommendations, followed by open discussion. The organizers will then collate the reports and produce a manuscript for publication and follow-up actions.

Link: http://www.hrt.msu.edu/PBSymp/

Contact information:  Please contact Sandy Allen, Meeting coordinator, for future updates on the meeting and with any suggestions you might have on the content and format of the meeting.