Breeding improvement of processing buckwheat: prospects and problems of interspecific hybridization

Woo S. H¹., T. Omoto², H.S. Kim¹, C. H. Park³, C. Campbell⁴, T. Adachi², and S. K. Jong¹

¹ Dept. of Agronomy, Chungbuk National University, Cheungju, 361-763, Korea ² Lab. of Plant Genes and Physiology, Graduate School of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, Osaka Prefectural University, Gakuen-cho 1-1, Sakai 599-8531, Japan³ Division of Biotechnology, Kangwon National University, Chunchon, 200-701, Korea⁴ Kade Research Ltd., Morden, Manitoba, Canada R6M 1E9

Woo S. H., T. Omoto, H.S. Kim, C. H. Park, C. Campbell, T. Adachi, and S. K. Jong. 2004. Breeding Improvement of Processing Buckwheat: Prospects and problems of Interspecific Hybridization. Advances in Buckwheat Research, Ninth International Symposium on Buckwheat, Prague, Czech Republic. pp. 350-354

Abstract: Buckwheat is famous for yield instability and related high flower and seed setting rates. Attempts were made to cross a wild profusely self-pollinating buckwheat and frost-resistance, self-pollinating buckwheat with other species for the purpose of transferring genes, for self-pollinating from the wild types to the cultivated gene pool. The improvement in high yield is partially due to the increase in the proportion of hybrids in the trials starting several years ago. The implications of the results for future buckwheat breeding are discussed.

Key words: common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), Fagopyrum homotropicum., Fagopyrum tataricum, Fagopyrum pilus, Fagopyrum cymosum, interspecific hybridization, embryo rescue, introgression, backcrossing