Takele Taye Desta The productivity of your crop under optimal conditions and the real productivity under various stress factors are two different things.

If stress cannot be eliminated, you should choose plants with higher adaptability.

I remember a good example from a vegetable field trial in Japan. In every local field station, the local variety was the best, but it could also be the worst in a different location. A variety from a large breeding company, on the other hand, could always be in the second or third position.

Careful selection of genotypes with higher productive as well as adaptive characters can resolve the problem. The selected genotypes can be involved in breeding programme.

Negative correlations between production traits (like yield) and adaptation traits (like drought or heat tolerance) are a common challenge in plant breeding. To address this issue in your breeding program, consider the following strategies:

By combining these approaches, breeding programs can better manage negative correlations and develop cultivars that are both high-yielding and stress-resilient.