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Good Get Better ...

Then Better Still

Pioneer draws on a rich history of inbred and hybrid creation to develop continually improving products for customers. This illustration offers a thumbnail sketch of how Pioneer researchers develop superior corn genetics.

The illustration below shows how Pioneer breeds inbred lines to produce uniform expression of valuable traits. As these plants self-pollinate, they lose size but deliver key traits more consistently. Pioneer then crosses two inbreds carrying beneficial traits. The genetic diversity, or difference, in these two lines delivers strong "heterosis," also called hybrid vigor. This means the offspring is a taller, stronger plant, but it exhibits the positive traits of the inbred lines.

Inbreds and Hybrids - Inbred - uniformity of traits, loss of plant vigor | Hybrid - larger plant, plant vigor
(Click on the image for a larger view)

The following illustration shows how Pioneer has combined these lines over the years to develop new lines leading to better and better commercial hybrids for customers. Obviously, the breeding program involves a massive number of lines and is tremendously complex.

This illustration shows how Pioneer has combined inbred lines over the years to develop new lines leading to better and better commercial hybrids for customers.
(Click on the image for a larger view)

This basic illustration is just a snapshot of the selection process being made every year with the thousands of lines portrayed in the nearer illustration. The vast amount of data Pioneer has retained from all these crosses - which produced both successful and discarded offspring - provides the basic phenotypic data that helps its researchers make the knowledgeable breeding choices to develop the best products for customers' operations.
(Click on the image for a larger view)

Lines Pioneer produced in the 1930s offered varying degrees of genetic improvement over other lines in the Pioneer stable at that time. In this case, genetic improvement is illustrated as plant height. In reality, performance progress includes the sum of a number of positive traits, including yield, disease resistance, insect resistance, standability and more.

Note the best plants in the 1930s are used to produce even better plants in the next generation. Pioneer plant breeders combine the best specimens of each generation to develop ever-increasing levels of hybrid performance.

Notice the yellow "X" in the third generation from the bottom: This line, once as good as any in the Pioneer lineup, is no longer good enough. Pioneer researchers discard lines that no longer contribute enough to genetic progress.

As hybrid function improves, better and better lines are relegated to the sidelines to keep the best performers on the field - or in your fields. Today, lines that would have been at the top of their league in the 1970s, or even the 1990s, are falling away in favor of lines delivering even more production.

This basic illustration is just a snapshot of the selection process being made every year with the thousands of lines portrayed in the nearer illustration. The vast amount of data Pioneer has retained from all these crosses - which produced both successful and discarded offspring - provides the basic phenotypic data that helps its researchers make the knowledgeable breeding choices to develop the best products for customers' operations.

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