Iranian Scientists Produce Hybrid Seed in Glass Greenhouses
Seyed Majid Toliat Abolhassani described achievement of sustainable and knowledge-based agriculture as one of the missions of the Innovation House, and told ANA, “One of our important plans is building a glass greenhouse on 5 hectares of land for the production of hybrid seeds.”
“Measures have been adopted to establish an acceleration center with cooperation of a partner, and plant medicine clinics for the detailed examination of disease and pest symptoms, and receive scientific and practical plans by specialists,” he added.
In agriculture and gardening, hybrid seed is produced by deliberately cross-pollinating parent plants which are genetically distinct. The parents are usually two inbred strains.
Hybrid seed is common in industrial agriculture and home gardening. It is one of the main contributors to the dramatic rise in agricultural output during the last half of the 20th century. Alternatives to hybridization include open pollination and clonal propagation.
An important factor is the heterosis that results from the genetic differences between the parents, which can produce higher yield and faster growth rate. Crossing any particular pair of inbred strains may or may not result in superior offspring. The parent strains used are carefully chosen so as to achieve the uniformity that comes from the uniformity of the parents, and the superior performance that comes from heterosis.
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