Selection Indices in Plant Breeding

D r. R. J . Baker has conducted significant theoretical and applied research on subjects relating to crop improvement for nearly two decades. While employed as a quantitative geneticist at the Agriculture Canada Research Station in Winnipeg, Canada, he worked closely with cereal breeders and pathologists on a range of problems related to the development of superior methods of crop improvement. He currently directs a wheat improvement program at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Baker has published more than 60 papers on selection indices, genotype-environment interaction, breeding methodology in self-pollinated species, methods of genetic analysis, methods of statistical analysis, and on the inheritance and heritability of agronomic and quality traits in cereal crops. He has served as a research advisor in East Africa and is often called upon for statistical advice and advice on computer methodology. He has contributed significantly to graduate student training and to the research efforts of his colleagues. He received his B.S.A. and M.Sc. from the University of Saskatchewan and his Ph.D. in plant genetics from the University of Minnesota. He spent one year as a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Genetics at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Dr. Baker has been awarded fellowships in the American Society of Agronomy and in the Crop Science Society of America for his research contributions.

• 1. History of Selection Index Methodology. 2. The Application of Selection Indices in Crop Improvement. 3. Basic Concepts in Quantitative Genetics. 4. Methods for Estimating and Evaluating Genotypic and Phenotypic Variances and Covariances. 5. Issues in the Use of Selection Indices. 6. Use of Selection Indices and Related Techniques for Evaluating Parental Material. 7. Recommendation for Using Selection Indices in Plant Breeding. 8. Development and Use of Selection Indices. 9. Parental Evaluation. 10. Computer Programs for the Study and Application of Selection Indices. Appendix 1. Appendix 2. Appendix 3. Appendix 4. Appendix 5. Appendix 6. Appendix 7. Appendix 8. Appendix 9. Appendix 10. Index.