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Project properties |
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| Title | Breeding for Variety Mixtures: Estimating mixing abilities of different quinoa cultivars
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| Group | Plant Breeding, Laboratory of |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-36 ECTS |
| Supervisor(s) | Jan Peter van der Hoeve; Max Wellens
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| Examiner(s) | Guusje Bonnema; Peter Bourke |
| Contact info | janpeter.vanderhoeve@wur.nl; max.wellens@wur.nl
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| Begin date | 2024/07/01 |
| End date | 2024/12/31 |
| Description | "Current cultivars are optimized for monocultures, raising uncertainty about their suitability for variety mixtures. We are conducting research to explore the possibilities of developing new cultivars specifically tailored to variety mixtrues, by decreasing competition and increasing facilitation traits between individual plants in the field.
In 2024, we are performing an experiment to assess the mixing ability of different quinoa cultivars in variety mixtures. A previous field trail showed that quinoa mixtures outperformed monoculutres in both yield and yield stability. We also showed that mixing ability differed between cultivars, however we currently do not know what traits are important for mixing ability. Our hypothesis is that plants that are highly lfexible in their architecture can better adapt to different enviroments and thus have high mixing ability. Our goals for this year include identifying traits important for mixing ability, assesing between-year stability of mixing abilty, and assesing between-year yield stability of mixtures vs monocultures. As a thesis student, you will work on your own research question (to be decided together with us), help out in the field, and perform the relevant measurements and data analysis." |
| Used skills | Fieldwork, measuring plant architecture traits, data analysis, assesing mixing ability trough mixed models, linking traits with mixing ability, gezelligheid
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| Requirements | Plant breeding related coruses, advanced statistics
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