Plant breeding programs in Slovenia
Slovenia is a middle European country characterized by an extremely diverse composition of climatic areas, geography and soils. There is wide variation both for temperature and for precipitation. Total agricultural land is 508,759 hectares, for which cereals, potatoes and vegetables occupy the major part.
Five institutions carry out plant breeding activities in the Republic of Slovenia. Two of them belong to the University of Ljubljana and Maribor, two are research institutes and one is a private seed company. Total budget spent for all plant breeding projects for the five institutions in 2007 was about 400.000 Euros (Similar financial situation was reported for the previous years). Investment by the private sector is minimal and governmentally allocated funds are severely limited.Five institutions carry out plant breeding activities in the Republic of Slovenia. Two of them belong to the University of Ljubljana and Maribor, two are research institutes and one is a private seed company. Total budget spent for all plant breeding projects for the five institutions in 2007 was about 400.000 Euros (Similar financial situation was reported for the previous years). Investment by the private sector is minimal and governmentally allocated funds are severely limited.
Most resources were allocated for the plant breeding activities for potato at the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (AIS) and for hop breeding activities at SIHRB. The main source of germplasm used in breeding programmes is the national germplasm bank which consists of farmers’ material (old populations) or some cultivar collections.
Bearing in mind the major soil and climatic variability of Slovenia, plant breeding efforts need to be performed locally, or at least selections should be tested in several locations prior to release attempts.
Research and education institutes with activities in plant breeding
Public Institutes
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Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (AIS)
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Institute of Hop Research and Brewing
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Agronomy Department of Biotechnical Faculty (University of Ljubljana)
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Faculty of Agriculture (University of Maribor)
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Private Institute
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SEMENARNA Ljubljana
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Information by Borut Bohanec (2008).- Information based on the Slovenia's full report from the PBBC survey. Last revised 20-06-2010, GIPB.