When farmers are planning to plant a field of vegetables, they want a crop that will grow well and

produce a high yield so that they get more vegetables for their money. The farmers also want a crop
that can withstand very cold temperatures over the winter or very high temperatures and drought
over the summer. They will want plants that are resistant to disease and pests. Most of all, they will
want a crop that looks and tastes good so people will want to buy it.
For over 10000 years farmers have saved the seeds from successful crops to produce the net
year!s crop. They didn!t realise it then but they were selecting useful genes.
Today, plant breeders choose plants that they know have good characteristics. They have developed
simple yet effective techni"ues for cross#pollination $the transfer of pollen from the anther of one
plant to the stigma of another plant%.
First of all the breeder must decide which plant is to produce the pollen and which will receive the
pollen on its stigma. These must be clearly marked, perhaps with different coloured thread or a tag.
The net step is to ensure that the plant is not fertilised by its own pollen $self#pollination%. &ome
plant breeders remove the anthers $the male parts, which produce pollen%. To prevent cross#
pollination $pollination by pollen from another flower% breeders tie up the petals of the flower with a
piece of string or put a polythene bag over the flower to protect the stigma.
To cross#pollinate, the anther is removed from one plant and placed in a container using twee'ers.
The protector, e.g. polythene bag, is removed from the flower of the other plant. The anther is then
taken out of the container using twee'ers and is rubbed gently over the stigma of the other plant so
pollen is left on it. The protector is then replaced so the plant is not pollinated by unwanted pollen.
(lternatively, a paintbrush can be used to brush pollen onto the stigma.
)*
9Ad(6)
Breeding plants 2
1 Make a list of all the
characteristics a plant breeder may
look for in+
a red rose bushes
b potato plants
c tomato plants.
2 Write a list of instructions for
cross#pollinating plants for someone
who has not done this before.
3 ,ow do breeders make sure that
plants don!t pollinate themselves-
4 ,ow do breeders make sure
unwanted pollen doesn!t pollinate the
plants-
5 a .lant breeders can increase the
numbers of a particular plant variety
"uickly by cloning. /ive an eample of
how this might be done.
b 0loning does not produce new
varieties. Why not-
6 &ome plant breeders use genetic
modification to get the varieties that they
want. 1plain why this method is "uicker
than selective breeding at producing new
varieties with the right characteristics.
I CAN...
describe how plants are selectively bred
describe how plants are cross#pollinated
consider the benefits of cloning and genetic modification.