Plant breeding

The primary objective of Plant breeding is the systematic optimisation of crops. Therefore, it has to adapt with maximum efficiency, to society’s changing needs in the use of plants and plant by-products for food, feed and industrial raw material purposes. New varieties with stable high yield performance must also meet quality standards and be adapted to the growing environment.

The traditional techniques of plant breeding consists of crossing breeding lines with desired characteristics, to create new variation and the subsequent selection of lines with, optimum performance , combining ability, (for the selection of variety parents), as well as the best-adapted variety types in the field. The breeding objectives are quality, yield and yield consistency over time. It takes 10 to 15 years – depending on crop species – from initial cross to variety registration.

The utilisation of a wide range of plant biotechnology tools is crucial for higher efficiency in the process of producing new varieties. Desired variety traits can be characterised on a molecular level using marker-assisted selection. The introgression of such traits into elite germplasm can be accelerated via multiplication and selection, of double-haploid, homozygous lines, carrying the genes of interest, from microspore culture to regenerated plants.


NPZ-Lembke is breeding the following crops: 

Oil crops
Oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) in winter and spring form

Grain legumes
Field beans (Vicia faba) and Field peas (Pisum sativum)

Forage crops
Perennial and italian ryegrass (Lolium perenne, Lolium multiflorum)
Red clover (Trifolium pratense)