The spring wheat breeding program in Switzerland

This article presents the spring wheat breeding program at the Swiss federal research station of Changins and its results in Switzerland and in the world. Since the first Swiss crosses in 1947, the selection of spring wheat aims to obtain varieties of excellent baking quality (classes I or TOP) and very good disease resistance. Today, cv. GREINA (class I) is the most cultivated in Switzerland. The variety FIORINA combines a very good baking quality (Class TOP) to a very high yield and good cold resistance. The analysis of the glutenins in Swiss lines and varieties revealed rare alleles, which have a positive role for baking quality. They will be used in future crosses.