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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2024, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (6): 187-202.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023259

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Progress in research on breeding methods to produce new, high-quality forage varieties

Wen-wen QI1,2(), Hong-yuan MA1(), Ya-xiao LI1, Yan DU3, Meng-dan SUN1, Hai-tao WU1   

  1. 1.Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130102,China
    2.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China
    3.Institute of Modern Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
  • Received:2023-07-24 Revised:2023-09-22 Online:2024-06-20 Published:2024-03-20
  • Contact: Hong-yuan MA

Abstract:

Forage is the best natural feed for herbivorous livestock. Therefore, it the basis and guarantee for the development of the herbivorous animal husbandry industry, and an important food resource as part of an all-encompassing approach to food. The breeding of new forage varieties is essential for the sustainable development of grass and animal husbandry industries. Forage plays important roles in promoting the stable production and supply of animal products. With the increasing demand for new high-quality forage varieties and the improvement of breeding techniques, forage breeding technology has entered the molecular era, and great breakthroughs have been made in the cultivation of new high-quality forage varieties. In this review, we systematically summarize the forage breeding techniques used in China and abroad in the past 100 years, including conventional breeding techniques (domestication breeding, cross breeding, mutation breeding, and ploidy breeding) and genetic engineering breeding techniques (transgenic and molecular design breeding). We also discuss the gene editing methods developed in recent years. We describe the achievements made using various breeding techniques, as well as their problems. We also outline the following prospects for future research: 1) In-depth exploration of natural forage resources and strengthening of the collection and utilization of germplasm resources. 2) Advancing the objectives for the breeding of forage species to meet the demands of farmers and livestock producers, paying attention to the improvement of forage quality, the production of disease-resistant and stress-tolerant varieties, and the development of the “productional-living-ecological” function of forage. 3) Combining conventional and modern breeding methods to move past the bottleneck of forage breeding and strengthen the breeding of high-quality forage species, especially Leymus chinensis and Medicago sativa. The aims of this review are to promote the new era of biological breeding in China and to provide a basis for the innovation of forage germplasm resources and the selection of new, high-quality forage varieties. The overall aims in this field of research are to provide new technologies for the establishment of high-quality and high-productive cultivated grassland, and to meet the growing demand for forage to feed farmed animals in China.

Key words: Leymus chinensis, Medicago sativa, germplasm resources, molecular breeding, mutation breeding, cell engineering