Plant breeders in Croatia work on improving genetic basis of the economically important traits of agricultural plant species. Yield of a crop is usually among the most important traits. It depends on genotype of a cultivar and on cultural practices including pest protection. Croatia has long tradition in plant breeding. Croatian plant breeders have developed over 800 cultivars, many of them are resistant or tolerant to the most important pathogens. Genetic variability for efficient uptake and use of nutrients has been also found among cultivars of same crops. The available germplasm enables farmers to choose the cultivars for organic agriculture, i.e. the cultivars which have genetic basis for more efficient nutrients use and which require less chemicals for pest control. Also, breeders can use those cultivars as valuable germplasm for developing new cultivars.

plant breeding; organic agriculture; pest resistant germplazm; nitrogen use efficiency

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia