With hybrid varieties taking an increasing area of the UK crop, growers are reminded of the legal obligations and agronomic and economic risks of farm-saving seed of F1 hybrid varieties.
Crops produced from F1 hybrid seed offer growers significant benefits in terms of yield improvement, agronomic performance and consistency of end-use quality. This is due to the heterosis, or ‘hybrid vigour’, derived in a single season by combining the best characters from two carefully selected parent lines.
But hybrid varieties do not reproduce true to type in subsequent generations. Growing farm-saved seed of hybrid varieties produces segregating and highly variable offspring, which can result in reduced yield, disease resistance and quality.
It is also illegal under Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation to produce farm-saved seed from hybrids without the breeder’s consent.
Beyond these legal and agronomic issues, attempting to farm-save hybrid varieties can also affect the marketability of the crop. Farm-saving hybrid crops such as oilseed rape can give rise to uneven quality and maturity resulting in variable glucosinolate content and a higher proportion of red or immature seeds at harvest.
Crops produced from F1 hybrid seed offer growers significant benefits in terms of yield improvement, agronomic performance and consistency of end-use quality. This is due to the heterosis, or ‘hybrid vigour’, derived in a single season by combining the best characters from two carefully selected parent lines.
But hybrid varieties do not reproduce true to type in subsequent generations. Growing farm-saved seed of hybrid varieties produces segregating and highly variable offspring, which can result in reduced yield, disease resistance and quality.
It is also illegal under Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation to produce farm-saved seed from hybrids without the breeder’s consent.
Beyond these legal and agronomic issues, attempting to farm-save hybrid varieties can also affect the marketability of the crop. Farm-saving hybrid crops such as oilseed rape can give rise to uneven quality and maturity resulting in variable glucosinolate content and a higher proportion of red or immature seeds at harvest.
