User:Lmeymann/sandbox

Hi I would like to add some more agricultural information about the biology of the plant. Please let me know what you think about the suggested changes.

Genetic diversity and potential for breeding

There is a wide range of wild and cultivated varieties of S. hispanica with interesting trades for breeding such as seed size, shattering of the seeds and seed color. The seed weight has a very high heritability of 0.75 A single recessive gene is responsible the white colored seeds. Crossings between cultivars are currently done by handpollinating, which is not very efficient for commercial use.

Crop Management Currently there are no major pests and diseases putting the chia production at risk,. Essential oils in chia leaves possess repellant properties against insects. which makes it a suitable crop for organic production. However first reports of virus infections probably transmitted via white flies suggest, that with a higher intensification additional crop protection tools might be needed in the future Weeds are the main problem in the early development of chia until its canopy closes. Since chia is sensitive to most common used herbicides mechanical alternatives are used.