Why does the bulk-population method allow breeders to handle many plants at low cost?

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Close-up of triticale grains scattered on a wooden surface with several wheat-like triticale heads lying on top. — Plant breeding Triticale is a hybrid of rye and wheat.

The bulk-population method allows breeders to handle large numbers of plants inexpensively because it minimizes the labor and record-keeping required during the generations following hybridization.

Unlike the pedigree method, which requires maintaining detailed records of parent-progeny relationships and selecting individual plants in successive generations, the bulk-population method involves harvesting the entire crop in mass. Because no individual ancestry records are kept, the breeder can sow seeds at normal commercial planting rates in large plots and use mass techniques—such as specific harvesting times or screening—to apply artificial selection to the entire population at once. Additionally, natural selection acts on the population during this period to eliminate plants with poor survival value, further reducing the need for intensive human intervention until the final stages of single-plant selection.1