Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Accomplishments: PBCC Accomplishments and Impacts 2022/23: The impacts and accomplishments noted below should, and we believe have, lead to improved awareness among decision-makers about the role of plant breeding and plant genetic resources in modern agriculture as it relates to improving the human condition both nationally and internationally. Protocols and pathways to get such information into the hands of appropriate leaders and into educational curricula at all levels of education need continued development. The PBCC will continue communicating through associations with the National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB), the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), USDA, the Seed Science Foundation, and our professional societies.

 Accomplishments: 2022-2023

• The PBCC website at PBCC About Us | NRSP10 continues to be updated and improved. This site now reflects the PBCC state committee representatives, white papers dealing with the key elements of the committee; white papers on “the key to global food security,” “genebanks and conservation,” harnessing new technologies (for plant breeding),” “incredible feats of plant breeding-cosmic crisp apple,” “incredible feats of plant breeding-introgression in peanut,” “incredible feats of plant breeding - fusarium resistance in strawberry,” and “incredible feats of plant breeding - red bran rice;” publications on plant breeding capacity in the U.S.; survey on job placement of new plant breeding PhDs; several publications on the future of plant breeding; student videos; and the beginning of core concepts for graduate education in plant breeding.

• Two more plant breeding success stories, one focused on biotic pathogen resistance in strawberry and the other on biofortification of rice, were created and now available on the PBCC website (https://www.nrsp10.org/PBCC_plant_breeding_outputs)

• Creation and distribution of the 2023 Survey of U.S. Public Plant Breeding Capacity. This survey is conducted every five years to assess the current capacity of plant breeding to meet U.S societal needs. It focuses on resource allocation (personnel time, financial resources, and level of local, state, and federal support) to identify what challenges are common among public plant breeding programs. The last survey was completed in 2018 and the findings were published in Crop Science (https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20227). The paper has been cited over 20 times and has been shared with key stakeholders as a way to draw attention to public plant breeding needs.

• Progress continues by Luebberstedt, Mahama, Retallick, Bohn, and Main (and others) in developing a set of core educational concepts for training/educating plant breeders at the MS and PhD levels (Plant Breeding Core Concepts | NRSP10).

• Based on the wide range of plant breeding course capacity across universities involved in the survey above, PBCC has initiated discussions on how to improve the availability of plant breeding topics. Early suggestions include recorded modules with national leaders in specific areas to be delivered synchronously or asynchronously, delivery of complete advanced courses, and short-term visiting instructors to present face-to-face

• A Seed World podcast online at NAPB - Seed World with the Chair of PBCC, discussing PBCC thoughts and direction, and how PBCC can best serve U.S. public breeding.

• Creating a newly updated directory of State Experiment Station Directors, Deans, Associate Deans of Research, or other university administrations responsible for agricultural research at 1862, 1890, and 1994 LGUs. This was essential as one of PBCC’s core functions is communication, therefore, having an updated directory was critical. This resource is available at PBCC Reporting and Admin, selecting “State Experiment Station Directors” at the bottom of the page.

• A manuscript on principles of public speaking for plant sciences has been accepted at Agricultural and Environmental Letters
  • Kantar, MB, Wang, D, Hale, I, Pratt, R, Jensen, JV, Lewenstein, BV. 2023. Improving Communicating in the Agricultural Sciences. (accepted Agriculture and Environmental Letters)

• The operation and function of PBCC was detailed and codified in a newly created PBCC Operational document. This document was created to capture how the PBCC functions and provide a repository for key documents (such as budget information, reimbursement procedures). The document provides transparency in how PBCC operates and will help ensure continuity in the organization’s operation.

• Developing the basis for material describing how efficient germplasm transition can occur at institutions with respect to several scenarios such as breeder retirement, closing of position, and hiring of new plant breeders. More on this output is described below.

• A manuscript on principles of public speaking for plant sciences has been accepted at Agricultural and Environmental Letters
  • Kantar, MB, Wang, D, Hale, I, Pratt, R, Jensen, JV, Lewenstein, BV. 2023. Improving Communicating in the Agricultural Sciences. (accepted Agriculture and Environmental Letters)