Living Environment Regents Practice Test

What farming practice does a farmer use when only selecting the best beans for future planting?

1. Hybridization

2. Selective breeding

3. Cross-pollination

4. Natural selection

The correct answer is: Selective breeding

The practice of selecting the best beans for future planting is known as selective breeding. This method involves choosing specific plants that exhibit desirable traits—such as improved yield, disease resistance, or better flavor—and using them for reproduction. This process allows farmers to enhance the characteristics of their crops over generations. Selective breeding differs from hybridization, which involves crossbreeding two different, but related, plant species to create a hybrid that may possess qualities of both parent plants. Cross-pollination plays a role in hybridization but does not directly focus on the selection process; it refers to the transfer of pollen from one flower to another, often leading to genetic diversity. Natural selection is a broader evolutionary concept where traits become more or less common based on their advantages in a given environment, but it does not involve the targeted selection of specific plants by a farmer. Therefore, the practice of choosing the best beans for future planting falls under selective breeding, making it the correct answer.