Plant Breeder/Geneticist Duties & Responsibilities
The role and function of a Plant Breeder/Geneticist includes the following duties and responsibilities:
- Analysing and scientifically assessing plant breeding in laboratory and field trials and selecting the best varieties;
- Conducting scientific projects, which may be laboratory-based, especially in the winter months;
- Multiplying up and producing virus-free plants;
- Maintaining detailed records throughout the research and development cycle;
- Managing, supporting and training technical and field staff;
- Producing research aims and objectives, and predicting the costing of the work;
- Researching methods and techniques for improving plant breeding;
- Writing and presenting work to other scientists and publishing scientific findings;
- Liaising with and visiting other scientists, commercial breeders and funding bodies.
- Identifying and selecting plants exhibiting desirable traits based on natural genetic variation;
- Crossing plants to produce new breeding material for field and glasshouse trials;
- Keeping up to date in the fast-moving area of science and translating ideas from scientific literature into new approaches to breeding problems;
- Monitoring the activities of competitors (in commercial settings) and developing a product market profile;
- Responding to enquiries from farmers, agronomists and other professionals;
Note that this is not an exhaustive list of Plant Breeder/Geneticist duties and responsibilities. Job functions for specific Plant Breeder/Geneticist roles may vary, depending on the industry and type of employer.