Crop and Pasture Improvement

Improvement of crops and pastures spans genetic, agronomic and ecological interventions aimed at raising yield, quality and sustainability. In cropping systems, breeders combine conventional selection with modern genomics to introduce traits such as stress tolerance, nutrient efficiency and disease resistance. Marker‐assisted and genomic selection accelerate deployment of favourable alleles, while genome editing now offers precise trait modification. Agronomic advances—optimised rotations, conservation tillage and irrigation scheduling—enhance resource use and soil health. In parallel, pasture improvement focuses on forage species that deliver high biomass, balanced nutrition and resilience under grazing. Mixtures of grasses and legumes exploit complementary root architectures and nitrogen‐fixing symbioses, boosting crude protein and dry matter production while suppressing weeds and reducing erosion. Conservation techniques—cutting and drying regimes, silage additives and densification—preserve forage quality through seasonal scarcity. Across cropping and pastoral systems, integrating genetic diversity, precision management and ecological design underpins climate adaptation, resource efficiency and stable production.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Genotyping‐by‐sequencing of over 570 Napier grass genotypes uncovered more than 114 000 genome‐wide markers, revealing three major genetic clusters with 46 % of variation among clusters and 54 % within them. Core quantitative trait loci for biomass yield were mapped, guiding marker‐assisted selection for high‐yielding forage lines. A separate analysis of 105 independent Napier collections generated 980 polymorphic SNPs that dissected population structure into seven subgroups, highlighted fast linkage‐disequilibrium decay and identified unique germplasm. These high‐density genomic resources now support efficient core‐collection design and future genome‐wide association studies to enhance pasture productivity and stability.

Crop and Pasture Improvement publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in crop and pasture improvement across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Genotyping by sequencing (GBS): A high‐throughput technique that sequences a representative fraction of the genome to discover and genotype SNPs across many samples simultaneously.

Simple sequence repeat (SSR): A DNA marker based on tandem repeats of short motifs, used to assess genetic diversity, population structure and parentage.

Linkage disequilibrium (LD): The non‐random association of alleles at different loci, influencing the resolution of association mapping.

Quantitative trait locus (QTL): A genomic region containing genes that collectively influence variation in a quantitative trait such as forage yield.

Core collection: A subset of germplasm capturing most of the genetic diversity of a larger collection, streamlining evaluation and breeding efforts.

References

1. Analysis of global Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) collections reveals high genetic diversity among genotypes with some redundancy between collections. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. Genotyping by sequencing provides new insights into the diversity of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) and reveals variation in genome-wide LD patterns between collections. Scientific Reports (2019).
3. Genotyping-By-Sequencing Reveals Population Structure and Genetic Diversity of a Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) Collection. Diversity (2020).
4. Molecular Markers Improve Breeding Efficiency in Apomictic Poa Pratensis L.. Agronomy (2018).