BREEDING CORN TO ENABLE ORGANIC SEED PRODUCTION

Corn is the second largest organic grain/seed crop in the U.S. behind wheat (Agricultural Marketing Research Center, 2018). While several seed companies sell seed that can be used in certified organic systems, essentially none of the varieties available were developed specifically for organic production systems and very few have even been evaluated in organic production environments. Further, only a small proportion of the seed sold to organic farmers is produced using certified organic practices. The goal of this work is to expand organic production by developing new varieties that are suited to seed production using certified organic practices and have characteristics desired by organic producers and to do this rapidly with a novel rapid cycling plant breeding method.