Web based Generation of Polycross Designs (webPD)

Careful choice of parental lines and efficient mating designs form the backbone to a successful plant breeding programme. Objectives of the study, nature of genotypes, pollination type, space, cost, heterogeneity present in the field, wind direction, etc. are some of the deciding factors of a mating design. For wind pollinated species, a group of selected genotypes are to be arranged in isolated blocks/rows and columns such that each genotype gets an equal chance of pollinating, or being pollinated by, any of the others. Different types of designs for polycross trials are conducted for different situations like octa neighbour balanced polycross designs, designs for directional wind system, neighbour restricted polycross designs, etc. For ready referencing and potential use of these designs, online software for generation of these designs is highly desirable. In this paper, the development of a web solution for generation of different classes of polycross designs based on client–server architecture has been discussed. The software webPD is easily accessible at any time from any arbitrary platform throughout the globe through the use of internet. This software provides freely available solution for the researchers, breeders and students working in this area.