Plant breeding variety testing

Longer term Development of organic VCU-testing protocols conventional plant breeding programmes including low-input selection criteria Varieties bred for low-input conditions and organically produced seeds... 

The time-honored method of controlling insect-borne virus diseases is by breeding resistant varieties. This has been practical in annual crops, but is hopelessly slow in tree crops, where it may take 20 years or more to test a new variety. What is needed desperately is some sort of treatment which will control the virus, probably a systemic treatment, as the virus works within the plant cells. This is not a new idea and work has been done along this line by many workers. A sense of urgency is inevitable, however, when 500 to 600 acres of citrus can be wiped out completely in 3 to 5 years time, followed by an expensive replanting job and a wait of 5 to 6 years to get back into production. This is the outstanding problem at the present time and may need years to answer. 

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