Can genomics boost productivity of orphan crops?

Abstract

To the Editor Advances in genomics over the past 20 years have enhanced the precision and efficiency of breeding programs1 in many temperate cereal crops2,3. One of the first applications of genomics-assisted breeding has been the introgression of loci for resistance to biotic stresses or major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for tolerance to abiotic stresses into elite genotypes through marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC)4. For instance, introgression of a major QTL for submergence tolerance (Sub1) into widely grown rice varieties has substantially improved yield in >15 million hectares of rain-fed low-land rice in South and Southeast Asia5. Despite this success story, the overall adoption of genomics-assisted breeding in developing countries is still limited especially for complex traits like yield under environmental stress in several other crops6,7.