Breeding of Vegetable, Spice and Tuber crops (2+1)

Advantagesand Disadvantages of Back Cross Method

Advantages

• Gives predicted results. Extensive tests are not necessary as recurrent parent is usually a well established variety
• We can obtain same results again and again
• While eliminating defects of well established variety there is no much change in its adaptability, performance and genotypic background
• Only method for interspecific gene transfer.
• Independent of environment
• This method offers considerable control over the genetic variation in the segregating population under consideration
• Little record keeping
• Requires small populations
• Backcrossing is applicable for both – dominant gene transfer and recessive gene transfer.
 
Disadvantages

• Newly developed variety is superior to the recurrent parent only for the character which is transferred, not for others.
• Ineffective for traits with low heritability viz., quantitative traits.
• If undesirable genes are closely linked to the desired gene, the undesirable genes are probably transferred along with the desired gene to the new variety.
• Little recombination
• It is a lengthy process, by the time we transfer a gene to the variety, that variety may have been replaced by other superior varieties