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Which important crop plants are mostly self-pollinated?
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Plant breeding
Triticale is a hybrid of rye and wheat.
Many of the most important cultivated crop plants are predominantly self-pollinating. These include:
In these species, self-pollination is often facilitated by the timing of pollen release relative to flower opening or by the physical arrangement of the stamens around the stigma. Because self-pollinated plants have only one parent, they tend to produce more uniform populations that are highly homozygous, or "true breeding," for specific traits. While self-pollination is an effective reproductive strategy in stable environments, it is often considered an evolutionary "cul-de-sac" compared to cross-pollination, which promotes greater genetic diversity.13