Preparing students for crop science careers
A Breed Apart
By Steve Leer
It's hot. Very, very hot.
The temperature at the Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education near Montmorenci, Ind., reads
91 degrees on this August afternoon. Add the humidity and it feels close to 100. While most seek shelter from
the intense summer sun, Mike Popelka is standing in a corn plot collecting data.
Popelka is monitoring the chlorophyll levels of corn plants. He hopes to find the genetic key to unlocking greater
heat and drought tolerance for future hybrids. The heat wave, it turns out, is a blessing in disguise.
"My dad sold seed on the side, and my brothers came home to farm, so I knew that wouldn't be my future,"
Popelka says with a smile, his face glistening with perspiration. "But that's OK because I'm now doing what I
was meant to do."
As a Purdue graduate student studying plant breeding, the Kansas native could leave a bigger mark on
agriculture—and the world—by following his life's calling. Popelka is among 30 Purdue graduate students
taking part in a program to prepare the next generation of crop improvement scientists.
Put 'Er There, Partners
The Partnership for Research and Education in Plant Breeding and Genetics is a four-year, $2.5 million grant
program that provides educational and leadership opportunities for students pursuing doctoral degrees in those
fields. When they graduate, the students can step into plant breeding jobs with seed companies or research
organizations.
The program is made possible by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food
and Agriculture, and corporate partners Ag Alumni Seed, AgReliant Genetics, Beck's Hybrids, ConAgraFoods,
Dow AgroSciences, Indiana Crop Improvement Association and Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Purdue provides
tuition support.
For the agricultural industry, the program comes not a moment too soon. Over the past two decades Purdue
and other universities have witnessed a drop in students majoring in plant breeding and genetics. At the same
time, many seed companies have expanded their crop improvement activities to meet the growing demand for
higher-yielding crops. The two trends have resulted in a shortage of qualified breeders.
Statistics tell the tale. The National Academy of Sciences reported that in 2007 U.S. universities awarded 4,010
baccalaureate degrees in agricultural business and management, compared with 177 in crop production,
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including applied sciences such as plant breeding. Also, a 2008 USDA study indicated bachelor's degrees
conferred in agronomy and crop sciences declined by about one-third between 1984 and 2003. The study went
on to reveal that some universities eliminated or consolidated programs in agricultural sciences because of low
enrollment.
While there are many reasons why fewer students are choosing crop science majors, two stand above the rest,
says Herb Ohm, Purdue Distinguished Professor of Agronomy and the plant breeding partnership program
director. First, universities have not done an adequate job promoting the science to college-bound students.
Second, universities shifted their academic emphasis as dollars were redirected from applied to basic science
programs.
"Beginning in the early 1990s, the trend at universities has been to move into more basic research in all areas,"
Ohm says. "It was a necessary development, even looking back. The trouble was, while we were expanding in
those basic science areas, we didn't have the means to maintain strong programs in the more applied aspects
like plant breeding and variety development. We lacked funds to support students. That is why more and more
students went into other fields of study. Like anything else, you go where there are opportunities."
You Got That Trait
Few careers offer the humanitarian opportunities of plant breeding. With the world population continuing to rise,
farmers must produce more food on comparable or less land. Already about one-seventh of the world's nearly 7
billion people are malnourished, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Many go
hungry because there is insufficient land on which to grow food, or the agricultural land cannot produce enough
food because of pests or unfavorable climates.
Plant breeding can help meet those production challenges. By introducing certain genetic traits into plant
species, future crop cultivars and hybrids can better withstand insects, diseases and extreme weather
conditions. Breeders also can develop plants that better photosynthesize sunshine and use soil nutrients. In
short, crop plants can be bred to be stronger and healthier to produce more food.
Breeding and genetics have come a long way in a relatively short time. The modern era in crop science began
in the 19th century, when Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, bred pea plants. In 1865 Mendel published a
paper explaining his theories of dominant and recessive genes, and how genetic traits are passed on to
offspring. Although his theories weren't immediately embraced, they set the stage for further advances in crop
science.
The 20th and early 21st centuries brought the introduction of hybrid crops; the discovery of DNA and its
structure; the development of dwarf and environmentally responsive wheat and rice cultivars for subtropical
regions—an event known as the "Green Revolution"; and the creation of crops genetically modified to survive
Roundup® and other herbicides. And, of course, there's the breeding of improved sorghum varieties for
Ethiopia and other African nations by Purdue's Gebisa Ejeta, 2009 World Food Prize recipient.
Crop production has increased dramatically because of breeding and genetics research. Since 1935, average
corn yields have jumped from 30 to more than 160 bushels an acre, with average soybean yields increasing
from 15 to 44 bushels per acre. Wheat yields have doubled.
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It's in the Genes
Although huge strides have been made in crop genetics, greater yields are still possible, say seed company
executives. Ron Bell of AgReliant Genetics, Fayte Brewer of Ag Alumni Seed and Kevin Cavanaugh of Beck's
Hybrids say future breeders will need to be highly skilled and capable of working in both field and lab. The three
men serve on the advisory council of the Partnership for Research and Education in Plant Breeding and
Genetics.
"Plant breeding is a multi-disciplinary science," says Bell, a Purdue alumnus and AgReliant's director of
breeding in Lebanon, Ind. "The amount of knowledge needed in genetics these days is enormous. A breeder
needs to know classical plant breeding, which is phenotyping your desired traits in the field, and also molecular
breeding or genotyping, which deals with finding an association of the desired trait with the genetic information
in the DNA."
At AgReliant's research facility, breeders develop genetically identical crop lines in one year rather than the
three years it takes using conventional methods—a technology known as "doubled haploid breeding." It's the
kind of research Purdue plant breeding students can expect to do once they graduate, Bell says.
Brewer, president of Romney, Ind.-based Ag Alumni Seed, says his company hires breeders with extensive
field experience. "Because our main product—hybrid popcorn seed—is not genetically modified, there's very
little lab work involved. It's all traditional plant breeding," he says.
Cavanaugh, also a Purdue alum, directs a growing research program at Beck's in Atlanta, Ind. He says Beck's
would like to hire a couple of breeders, but competition is fierce for people with the preferred doctoral degree.
Any student with that academic credential can choose from among numerous job offers, he says. "A good
student with a Ph.D. can earn up to $100,000 a year," Cavanaugh says.
The Beck's executive says he foresees the day when plant breeders are able to identify genes that determine
both yield potential and nutritional value. "Maybe in the future we'll have medicinal value in crops so that we can
all get healthy by eating certain foods. All those things are possible through plant breeding."
Giving Spirit
That kind of talk excites Popelka and fellow graduate students in the plant breeding and genetics program.
As Popelka runs his chlorophyll meter over sun-baked corn leaves, he speaks of his love of plants and the
outdoors and what he hopes to accomplish when his college days are over. "I want to give back to the
agriculture sector somehow, and plant breeding would be the best way to do it," he says.
Shaylyn Wiarda and Trulie Campbell echo similar sentiments. Both have conducted research during their time
at Purdue: Wiarda on head size, seed size and stem strength in wheat, and Campbell on soybean resistance to
aphids.
Wiarda, of Dows, Iowa, says she enjoys applying her genetics training to plant science. "When you're able to
see improvements in crops through breeding, that's very rewarding," she says. "This program has really helped
prepare me for a career after graduation."
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For Campbell, a Valparaiso, Ind. native, plant breeding affords the prospect of tackling some of nature's most
intriguing questions and the chance to work with cutting-edge technology. But that's not the main reason she
studies plant breeding. She wants to make the world a little better place to live.
"Why do I want to do this? I want to help people with food shortages in the world. Period."
Contact Steve Leer at sleer@purdue.edu
Related Sidebar: Grant supports classroom, non-classroom learning
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