Success through cooperation

KWS is the undisputed market leader in sugarbeet seed. What makes sugarbeet so interesting for breeders?

Andreas Loock: First, the variety of challenges in breeding: It’s not easy to reconcile sugar yield and resistance to diseases and pests. Second, the possibilities are also huge. We have good, efficient methods to quickly develop high-performing varieties, for example the use of double haploids, fully automated phenotyping or genomic breeding value estimation. Beet has always been bred using cutting-edge methods over a span of many decades. That’s how KWS has kept on achieving breeding progress despite new challenges – not only in theory, but also in practice in the field.

What has been the most impressive experience in your professional life?

Loock: The launch of Roundup Ready^® beet in the U.S. was the most impressive experience for me. The market had been thirsting for that because beet was under pressure. Growers were desperate for herbicide-tolerant sugarbeet varieties that eliminated the need for hand weeding. All other crops in the rotations there had this herbicide tolerance. Working with our research team and Regulatory Affairs, we swiftly developed the appropriate varieties and within two years had converted the North American market to this new system – it was an instant and huge success.

And which phase was particularly challenging?

Loock: For me, the greatest challenge was the long-term establishment of the basic pools as the foundation for hybrid breeding in sugarbeet. I started developing the maternal basic pool program as a young breeder and had to provide high-performance material with a large genetic breadth for variety development. That process took a lot of time and patience and also had its ups and downs. It took ten years – a strenuous, yet exciting time!

What is KWS’ recipe for success in sugarbeet breeding?

Loock: The close ties between the Business Unit and research were always important to me. We pulled in the same direction as a result, and that’s an important pillar of our success. Moreover, breeding must be close to the market. That’s why all breeders have deep roots in a market and are in dialogue with the industry and our sales teams, so that we quickly learn what farmers need. When we hear about a new requirement from a market, our breeding and research colleagues can get started to develop and implement solution approaches. The second pillar is our successful breeding team: We have continuously built it up and enhanced it over many years. This highly motivated team has rolled out many new and important variety traits over the years and provided the market with innovative solutions: rhizomania resistance, nematode tolerance, the Cercospora tolerance CR+, and CONVISO^® SMART. Without these innovations, beet would no longer be competitive in farmers’ crop rotation. All the ideas and approaches we’ve developed have been successfully implemented by the various breeding stations thanks to their great commitment.

What is the current focus in sugarbeet breeding?

Jens Lein: We have to address the issue of new traits, while farmers expect continuous yield progress. There’s greater focus on sustainably produced products, and we have to come to terms with using less chemical means of crop protection. Resistance to yellowing viruses and insect resistance in general are currently the most important issues in breeding. Neonicotinoids used to provide reliable protection, but now genetics must ensure that insects don’t harm the plants.

What problems do insects cause?

Lein: Insects damage plants in different ways: directly, as in the case of the beet leaf weevil, which eats the seedlings. And also by transmitting harmful viruses. The green peach aphid is one such vector. We’ve identified eight insect species and three viruses that are particularly harmful to sugarbeet. We need to find new resistances to all of them and set up individual resistance programs for each. That involves a lot of effort in order to counter the ban on a single group of pesticides through breeding. And new diseases may also emerge unexpectedly. Climate change means insects are multiplying faster or expanding their habitats. One example of that is the “syndrome des basses richesses” (SBR), where cicadas are responsible for transmitting the pathogens. SBR results in significant yield losses in southwest Germany and Switzerland. However, we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to successfully tackle these challenges through breeding with the measures we have taken.
As regards the new products we’re already marketing, we have two blockbuster traits on the market in the shape of CONVISO^® SMART and CR+. We’re currently working intensively on combining these traits, which will deliver significant benefits to farmers. Initial varieties were submitted for approval this year.

How is climate change impacting cultivation and thus the requirements for the development of new varieties?

Lein: Sugarbeet is cultivated in regions close to sugar factories, which means it’s not easy to start growing it in other regions. We therefore need to develop breeding material that ensures that sugarbeet can be suitably grown at these locations, even under changing environmental conditions. In principle, our gene pool is large enough to respond to that challenge. In addition, we launched a breeding program for drought tolerance seven years ago and are beginning to integrate material and test systems into our routine breeding programs. That will enable farmers to successfully grow sugarbeet even when there are higher temperatures and longer dry periods.

How do you go about developing such varieties?

Lein: We specifically go to countries such as the U.S., Italy and France and evaluate how these genotypes develop there – and select plants that exhibit low yield losses. Plants respond to drought stress in very diverse ways, and many metabolic processes are involved in the reaction. We still want and need to learn more about this in order to be able to identify material in a more pinpointed way in the future. This is where the successful cooperation described by Andreas comes into play again: We breeders alone can’t ensure we build up this very fundamental knowledge, but we can do that in close cooperation with researchers from Molecular Tool & Trait Development, phenotyping and so on. The next challenge is then to process the data in a targeted manner in order to be able to make the right selection decision in the end. In the future, that will also include environmental data such as temperature, precipitation, soil type, plant-soil interaction and plant-environment interaction.

What features does sugarbeet need to be a competitive crop twenty or thirty years from now?

Lein: We want to make beet even more robust in the face of the challenges of climate change and to enable more sustainable agriculture in which less pesticide and less fertilizer are used. That alone is the challenge and the work agenda for the next ten to twenty years. If we accomplish that, coupled with continued breeding progress of 1.5 percent more yield per annum, sugarbeet will remain a competitive part of the crop rotation in the coming decades. Efficient weed control will be an exciting issue. We may well receive support in that from robot technology. However, we’ll also continue to support the CONVISO^® SMART system with material and possibly find a successor for the pesticide. Another goal is to develop varieties with far higher sugar content and high beet weights, because the two are difficult to combine. If we can achieve both those goals, that will give us another real boost.

How will the reorganization of research and development at KWS affect the work of sugarbeet breeding?

Lein: The new changes aren’t that great in our practical everyday work. There has always been very close cooperation between researchers and the BU. I believe sugarbeet breeders should act as role models here. Basically, the changes inject greater transparency and clarity in the organization of work in research and development. That’s particularly helpful in a growing company, because new colleagues, for example, will be able to tap into the opportunities for collaboration across departments much faster.

Jens Lein, what are you most looking forward to in your new role?

Lein: The team is extremely important for our success. I very much hope we’ll keep working in a spirit of friendly collegiality, while remaining frank and critical. All our breeding programs are interconnected, and the new programs mean a lot of work is in store for us. We all have the goal of developing successful products. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that we keep sugarbeet on the road to success. |