SA Graan July 2018

Swierige eeufeesvieringe

ynoch het op 23 Maart vanjaar hul 100ste bestaansjaar in

Suid-Afrika met ‘n swierige aandfunksie gevier. ’n Kort

video waarin Kynoch se ryk erfenis en toekomsvisie met

die gaste gedeel is, was een van die hoogtepunte van die

aand se verrigtinge.

Mnr Niren Murugan (streekshoof: Suid-Afrika) het gesê: “Ons almal

by Kynoch en ETG voel trots en dankbaar om hierdie eeufeesvie

ringe van Kynoch as ’n kunsmisvervaardiger en -verskaffer te vier.

Kynoch is een van die bekendste en gerespekteerde handelsmerke

in die Suid-Afrikaanse landbousektor. Ons vier ons ryk erfenis en

sien met groot verwagting uit na die volgende 100 jaar. Kynoch

sal voortgaan om innoverende produkte en dienste aan ons land-

boukliënte te lewer.”

Het jy geweet?

Die Kynoch handelsmerk is vernoem na sy stigter, George Kynoch.

Die oorspronklike maatskappy, vandag bekend as Kynoch Kunsmis,

het sy ontstaan in Birmingham, Engeland gehad en was aanvanklik

’n ammunisie- en plofstofvervaardiger.

SA GRAAN/GRAIN

REDAKSIE

July 2018

funding bodies and breeding programmes. Primary funding bodies

include Grain SA, The Department of Science and Technology and

the Winter Cereal Trust, and the recipient stakeholder breeding

programmes include the ARC-Small Grain (public), Sensako and

Pannar (both private).

The second and third objectives are closely intertwined and in-

volve germplasm development and screening followed by directed

crossing. Crossing in the pre-breeding programme is based on

the plant breeding laboratory’s male sterility (facilitated by a domi-

nant sterility gene Ms3) mediated marker assisted recurrent selec-

tion scheme.

The fourth objective explores the use of molecular markers, and the

plant breeding laboratory in conjunction with the ARC-Small Grain

is busy with the identification, optimisation and implementation of

yield related trait markers. This part of the larger project is also an

International Wheat Yield Partnership – an international alliance

aimed at yield improvement through international collaboration

– aligned project.

High throughput phenotyping is the fifth objective and involves

the use of drones (Y-framed, quad copters and a fixed wing) to fa-

cilitate digital imaging of breeding material. The drone platform can

already be used to generate 2D and 3D data for field trials, which

include plot based RGB and NDVI maps. The project is also in the

process of deploying thermal camera technology this coming

growth season that will assist in measuring canopy temperatures.

The most important objective from a stakeholder point of view is,

however, the distribution of germplasm. As such, germplasm is an-

nually distributed to stakeholders packaged as nurseries. During

2018, the 13th annual nursery was distributed and consisted out of

270 lines that could either be hand-sown (one package of seed con-

sisting 15 g) or planted as yield plots (four packages of 100 g).

According to a 2016 survey among the recipient breeding pro-

grammes on average 44 selections per season are made and includ-

ed as either direct introductions and/or crossing parents.

Capacity building is also a very important objective of the on-go-

ing project and each year several undergraduate Plant Breeding

students as well as Honours students in Genetics conclude their

practical projects as part of the pre-breeding programme. Several

postgraduate students have also concluded their studies over the

past few years as part of the plant breeding laboratory’s pre-breed-

ing programme and are now successfully employed in the wheat

breeding industry, and/or larger breeding industry.

Breeding the future

Currently more than a dozen students are reliant on the programme

for their projects and are contributing to the success of it. Over the

next three issues we shall take a closer look at some of the objec-

tives and the work being done by the plant breeding laboratory and

its postgraduate students.

This is proof of how the laboratory is not only breeding wheat’s

future, but also breeding a cohort of new wheat scientists.

1: Agter: Chris Burbidge, Cassie Dorfling, Albert van Zyl, Jannie van Aswegen en Deon Scheepers.

Voor: Bertus Blignaut en Sheila Dry.

2: Ashish Lakhotia, Alta Maree, Niren Murugan en Ann Lemkes.

3: Peter Plint, Kevin du Plessis en Diddle Mahabir.

Produkinligting