Optimizing the management and sustainable
use of forest genetic resources in Europe

Work package 2

Leader: Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)

This work package will propose and evaluate novel breeding strategies and tools making better use of existing FGR in order to contribute to more efficient sustainable management of genetic diversity in the most active breeding programmes and for FGR of interest which benefited today of limited breeding efforts. The specific objectives of this work package are to:

  • Inventory and validate advanced high throughput (HT) phenotyping methods for better characterisation and use of FGR.
  • Design and implement adapted allele and genotype sampling strategies to enrich existing breeding populations and initiate new breeding programmes for different breeding objectives.
  • Develop cost- and time-effective breeding strategies to favour rapid deployment of a wider range of FGR with a special emphasis on species/FGR with low-intensity or no breeding programmes.
  • Define explicit selection strategies that balance genetic diversity and genetic gains in an optimal manner with a special emphasis on intensive advanced breeding programmes where phenotypic and genomic information are combined.