Tohoku Agricultural Research Center, NARO, has bred a new soft winter wheat cultivar, “Nanbukirari”, as a successor to “Nanbukomugi”. “Nanbukirari” was applied for variety registration at the seed and seeding section of MAFF in 2018. “Nanbukirari” is a Japanese noodle cultivar with a slightly low amylose content and excellent texture. “Nanbukirari” has improved on the disadvantages of “Nanbukomugi”, such as having a lower wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV) susceptibility, and a longer stem. It also has the advantage of producing a bright yellowish flour. The yield of “Nanbukirari” is about 1.4 times higher than that of “Nanbukomugi”. The snow mold resistance is inferior to that of “Nanbukomugi”, but it is less susceptible to pre-harvest sprouting. It is highly resistant to yellow mosaic virus, which is a significant improvement on “Nanbukomugi”. “Nanbukirari” has a higher milling yield than “Nanbukomugi”, and has excellent milling characteristics. As a slightly-low-amylose cultivar lacking Wx-B1, it has a large amylogram breakdown, which gives it a good noodle texture. “Nanbukirai” flour is yellowish like “Nanbukomugi”, and has better lightness than “Nanbukomugi”. Therefore, “Nanbukirari” is a cultivar that has improved on disadvantages (better yellow mosaic virus resistance and longer stem) and has an advantage (yellowish flour).

Waxy wheat was bred by the pedigree breeding method in Japan for the first time in the world. However, its usage is limited because a hard and waxy wheat cultivar was not developed. A hard wheat generally has the Glu-D1d gene, which strengthens the gluten. On the other hand, current Japanese waxy wheat cultivars do not have this gene, thus the gluten is weakened. When conventional waxy wheat flour is blended to improve the texture of bread, the strength of gluten in the dough is weakened as a result. Institute of Crop Science, NARO, and Kumamoto Flour Milling co., Ltd. worked together to breed a hard and waxy wheat cultivar, “Mochiharuka”, whose genetic background was the hard wheat cultivar “Yumeshiho”, using the methods of DNA marker selection, continuous backcross, near-isogenic lineage production, and generation promotion in greenhouses. Compared with “Yumeshiho”, the panicles are longer, volume weight and yield are slightly smaller, appearance quality is the same or slightly worse, pre-harvest sprouting is slightly difficult to difficult, and the degree of resistance to wheat yellow mosaic and leaf rust are slightly weak in “Mochiharuka”. The other agronomic traits are equivalent. “Mochiharuka” has little amylose in the endosperm starch and very high-water absorption on Farinogram. The maximum viscosity temperature on an amylogram is low. In a processing test using wheat flour blended with “Mochiharuka”, it was evaluated that the bread has a soft and chewy texture, ramen noodles have strong viscoelasticity, and gyoza-wrappers have a chewy texture. It is expected to lead to commercialization.

Sweetpotato for starch production plays an important role in supporting regional agriculture and the regional economy as a staple crop in southern Kyushu. However, in recent years, the shortage of raw materials for starch has become serious due to the frequent occurrence of disease and pest damage, and a decrease in the cultivation area. In the present study, a variety for starch production, “Konaishin”, with excellent disease and pest resistance and high yield was developed. We evaluated the characteristics of “Konaishin” for several years, and the total yield of “Konaishin” was higher than that of “Shiroyutaka” and “Koganesengan” in all of the five cropping types investigated and was 118–148% of that of “Shiroyutaka”. The starch content of “Konaishin” was higher than that of “Koganesengan” and similar to that of “Shiroyutaka”. The yield of starch of “Konaishin” was higher than that of “Shiroyutaka” and “Koganesengan” and was 116–152% of that of “Shiroyutaka”. “Konaishin” showed slightly strong resistance to stem rot, strong resistance to southern root-knot nematode races SP1, SP2, SP3, and SP4, and slightly strong resistance to race SP6-2, slightly strong resistance to coffee root-lesion nematode, and slightly strong resistance to foot rot. In a field severely infested with foot rot, “Konaishin” had a lower incidence of plants with symptoms of foot rot on the foot of the stem than “Shiroyutaka” and “Koganesengan”. Therefore, cultivation of “Konaishin” was thought to be an effective means of controlling foot rot, which continues to cause serious damage in southern Kyushu. The whiteness and viscosity characteristics of the starch of “Konaishin” were not significantly different from those of “Shiroyutaka”. Therefore, it was considered that the replacement of “Shiroyutaka” with “Konaishin” would proceed smoothly in terms of starch properties. Furthermore, “Konaishin” was also found to be suitable for shochu brewing. “Konaishin” has a higher yield than “Shiroyutaka”, which is the main variety used as a raw material for starch, and is resistant to foot rot and stem rot, as well as resistant to two types of nematodes; therefore, it is expected to contribute to the stable production of starch by expanding its growth in southern Kyushu.