Harnessing Cooler Nights in the Central Zone of India to Achieve Speed Breeding Under Field Conditions

The need to increase the annual genetic gain in crops continues to be urgent to sustain the growing food demand and the sustainability of the agri-food system. An important way to achieve this is by reducing the cycle time of crop breeding. There are various approaches where more than one generation of wheat can be grown each year, including by taking off-season crops. The greenhouse or artificial generation advancement facility is also used for quick generation advancement. However, it is costly and not suitable for developing countries or institutions having financial limitations. Moreover, the amount of breeding material to be handled in speed breeding facilities is also quite limited reducing the chance of obtaining all probable recombinant lines. Therefore, we explored a viable and cost-effective way to grow two wheat crops in a single season under natural field conditions in a location in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India where wheat has never been grown in the off-season. The experiment was conducted using six genotypes, varying in days to maturity on four different treatment combinations at the research farm of Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh which falls under the Central Zone (CZ) of India. Out of four treatments, we got seed germination in two treatments with a success rate of >80%. The results proved that it is possible to obtain at least two generations of wheat crop under field conditions in the location used. This approach not only saves resources and time but also provides an opportunity to make selections in breeding populations at least from the first cycle. The results serve as a base to further refine this technique and eventually use it for wheat breeding or off-season multiplication of seeds to fast-track the entire process of varietal development and its dissemination.