NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
Breeding Efforts by Crop
(PYs are actual breeders developing cultivars)
Crop
Sunflower
Soybean
Corn
HRS Wheat
Potato
Oat
Durum Wheat
Barley†
Flax
Dry Bean
White Wheat
Canola
Subtotal
Trees
Total
PYs
1.00 (retired)
0.95
0.90
2.45
0.90
0.95
0.95
1.80 (lost 0.95)
0.95
1.35
1.00
1.00
14.2
0.50
14.7
Releases in the past 5 years
19 (all germplasm)
16
8 (3 germplasm)
6
8
6
5
3
3
1
1 (1 germplasm)
0
76
14
90
10 years
46 (all germplasm)
24
24 (7 germplasm)
18
12
10
12
7
5
5
1
0
164
19
183
Breeder
Dr. Jerry Miller
Dr. Ted Helms
Dr. Marcelo Carena
Dr. Mohamed Mergoum
Dr. Susie Thompson
Dr. Michael McMullen
Dr. Elias Elias
Dr. Richard Horsley
Dr. James Hammond
Dr. Kenneth Grafton
Dr. William Berzonsky
Dr. Dale Herman
An additional 9.73 PYs work in association to plant breeders
† Dr. Jerome Franckowiak was the two-row barley breeder until 2006
Breeding Efforts by Activity
PYs
5.3
3.0
4.4
2.0
5.2
19.9
(a) Plant Breeding Research
(b) Germplasm Enhancement
(c) Cultivar Development
(d) Biotechnology Research and Development
(e) Plant Breeding Education
Total
Number of Plant Breeding Students at NDSU
%
27
15
22
10
26
100%
Total
Domestic
Ph.D.
MS
International
Ph.D.
MS
2000-2006
92
4
22
40
26
Currently
38
1
7
18
12
Job placement of recent graduate students (2000-2006)
Total
Ph.D. other inst.
Industry
USDA
NARS
Postdocs
Int. Centers
Demand
54
8
32
2
6
5
1
INCREASED
100%
15%
58%
4%
12%
9%
2%
THE DEMAND FOR PLANT BREEDING JOBS HAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED
EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR MORE APPLIED PREPARATION AND ESPECIALLY WITH
GENETICS, STATISTICS, AND APPLIED BREEDING BACKGROUNDS
Plant Breeding Course Offerings
PLSC 611 Genomics
PLSC 631 Intermediate Genetics
PLSC 646 Genetics and Plant Improvement
PLSC 684 Plant Tissue Culture and Micro-propagation
PLSC 710 Professional Development I
PLSC 711 Professional Development II
PLSC 721 Genomic Techniques
PLSC 724 Field Design I
PLSC 727 Crop Breeding Techniques
PLSC 731 Plant Molecular Techniques
PLSC 734 Field Design II
PLSC 741 Cytogenetics
PLSC 751 Advanced Genetics
PLSC 776 Advanced Plant Breeding
PLSC 780 Population Genetics
PLSC 781 Quantitative Genetics
PLSC 785 Crop Breeding Programs Management
Applied Plant Breeding Institute (APBI)
To further expand and focus the research, teaching, and training efforts on
crops improvement in North Dakota, an Applied Plant Breeding Institute (APBI)
was proposed in 2003 and created in 2006.
The APBI is unique in the nation because of the tremendous direct plant
breeding and genetics expertise available at NDSU that is accompanied with a
large diversity of crops grown in the state.
Eleven plant breeding programs are currently housed in the Department of
Plant Sciences (hard red spring wheat, durum wheat, six-rowed barley, tworowed barley, oat, corn, flax, soybean, potato, dry edible bean, and canola).
The NDSU plant-breeding program is especially recognized on successful
numerous variety releases worth millions of dollars in many different crops and
on training applied plant breeders for public and private sectors.
See description at http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/plantsci/undrcour.htm
THERE HAS, DURING THE PAST 10 YEARS, BEEN A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT EROSION OF PLANT BREEDERS AT
UNIVERSITIES TO EDUCATE AND TRAIN THE FUTURE GENERATION OF PLANT BREEDERS. BECAUSE OF THE RAPID
EXPANSION WITHIN THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR AND THE DEMANDS FOR APPLIED PLANT BREEDERS, A CRITICAL
MASS OF PLANT BREEDERS IS ESSENTIAL TO MEET THE FUTURE DEMANDS OF PLANT BREEDERS FOR INCREASED
CROP PRODUCTIVITY AND VALUE.