Project outline

About the Project

The overall aim of the Defra Oilseeds Genetic Improvement Network is to underpin the genetic improvement of UK oilseed crops by:

• Maintaining and expanding interactions between stakeholders and academics
• Providing freely-available physical resources to underpin rapeseed breeding (Brassica napus diversity lines and pathogen accessions)
• Providing freely-available information resources to underpin rapeseed breeding (including molecular marker and trait data)
• Pre-breeding to produce and assess novel genetic variation in winter oilseed rape (relating to environmental resilience, particularly genetic sources of resistance to pests, diseases and extreme weather)
• Evaluating the application of “precision breeding” in winter oilseed rape (both Genome Editing and genomics-assisted approaches)
• Evaluating the prospects for alternative oilseed crops for commercial cultivation in the UK (sunflower and oilseed hemp)