The Reflective Plant Breeding Paradigm: A Robust System of Germplasm Development to Support Strategic Diversification of Agroecosystems

Over the last half-century, crop breeding and agro- nomic advances have dramatically enhanced yields in temperate summer-annual cropping systems. Now, diversification of these cropping systems is emerging as a strategy for sustainable intensifica - tion, potentially increasing both crop production and resource conservation. In temperate zones, diversification is largely based on the introduc - tion of winter-annual and perennial crops at spatial and temporal locations in annual-crop production systems that efficiently increase production and resource conservation. Germplasm development will be critical to this strategy, but we contend that to be feasible and efficient, germplasm improve - ment must be closely integrated with commercial- ization of these crops. To accomplish this integra- tion, we propose a novel approach to germplasm development: the reflective plant breeding para - digm (RPBP). Our approach is enabled by develop- ments in genomics, agroecosystem management, and innovation theory and practice. These develop- ments and new plant-breeding technologies (e.g., low-cost sequencing, phenotyping, and spatial modeling of agroecosystems) now enable germ- plasm development to proceed on a time scale that enables close coordination of breeding and com- mercialization (i.e, development of cost-effective production systems and supply-value chains for end-use markets). The RPBP approach is based on close coordination of germplasm development with enterprise development. In addition to supporting strategic diversification of current annual-cropping systems, the RPBP may be useful in rapid adap- tation of agriculture to climate change. Finally, the RPBP may offer a novel and distinctive pathway for future development of the public plant-breeding programs of land-grant universities with implica- tions for graduate education for public- and private- sector plant breeders.