HYBRID CULTIVARS ARE A CORNERSTONE OF MODERN CROP PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF THEIR HIGH YIELD AND UNIFORMITY. HYBRID CULTIVARS ARE MADE BY CROSSING INBRED PARENTAL LINES. DEVELOPING THE INBRED PARENTAL LINES USED FOR HYBRID PRODUCTION REQUIRES MANY YEARS OF INBREEDING AND BACKCROSSING AND REPRESENTS A MAJOR BOTTLENECK IN BREEDING PIPELINES.ONE TIME-SAVING STRATEGY THAT CAN CUT YEARS OFF THE PROCESS IS MAKING DOUBLED HAPLOID LINES BY FIRST PRODUCING A HAPLOID PLANT AND THEN DOUBLING ITS CHROMOSOMES. DOUBLED HAPLOIDS ARE INSTANT INBREDS THAT CAN BE IMMEDIATELY FED INTO THE HYBRID CULTIVAR PIPELINE. THEY REQUIRE ONE TO TWO YEARS TO DEVELOP, COMPARED TO NEARLY TEN YEARS FOR A CONVENTIONAL CARROT INBRED LINE. THIS DOUBLED HAPLOID STRATEGY HAS REVOLUTIONIZED MAIZE BREEDING, AND MAJOR SEED COMPANIES NOW FOCUS ON DOUBLED HAPLOID PRODUCTION BECAUSE IT AVOIDS YEARS OF INBREEDING, THE LINES EXPERIENCE NO GENETIC DRIFT OVER TIME, AND HYBRIDS PRODUCED FROM THEM ARE HIGHER YIELDING WITH GREATER UNIFORMITY. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK IS TO DEVELOP A HAPLOID-INDUCER LINE FOR CARROT BY ENGINEERING MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE CENH3GENE. OUR STRATEGY WILL BE MODELED ON THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ESTABLISHED IN ARABIDOPSIS, AND THE FINAL OUTCOME OF THE PROJECT WILL BE A GREATLY IMPROVED SYSTEM FOR GENERATING HYBRID SEED FOR CARROT THAT SHOULD BE APPLICABLE TO MANY OTHER ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT CROPS. THE HAPLOID INDUCTION SYSTEM WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP PROMISES TO CUT YEARS OFF THE PLANT BREEDING CYCLE.