Genomic selection for utilisation, seed production and animal health traits in white clover

White clover is a forage crop commonly grown in mixtures with perennial ryegrass. Teagasc research has demonstrated that incorporating white clover in to grazing swards provides additional nitrogen for herbage production and provides higher quality forage leading to increase milk yields relative to grass-only swards, contributing to the economic and environmental sustainability of pastoral based production systems. Teagasc runs a white clover breeding programme charged with developing improved varieties to support Irish agriculture. Genomic selection is a form of marker-assisted selection where molecular markers covering the entire genome are used to generate breeding values for individual plants. The PhD student will evaluate the potential of genomic selection in the white clover breeding programme.