Breeding Scheme Language: an R Package to Script and Simulate Breeding Schemes

Plant breeding involves a number of factors, such as target trait genetic architecture and breeding resource availability. Plant breeders face difficult problems to determine an optimal breeding strategy in each breeding program. Simulation study is one of the useful strategies to choose a better (or the best) breeding scheme from a number of possible alternatives. However, it is difficult for a person who has little experience of computer programing to take the first step in conducting breeding simulation, which might be complex even using existing simulation tools. We develop a simple and flexible simulation platform, the Breeding Scheme Language (BSL), as an R package. Users can install and use the BSL package in the R environment. Users define their target species, genetic architectures and breeding strategies by combining simple functions and parameters in the BSL. The BSL will be useful for breeders to evaluate and compare breeding schemes to choose an optimal strategy. We believe that the BSL can also be used to train students to construct breeding strategies. The BSL source code is open to the public, and can be further improved. We welcome any comments and improvement by users.