Crossword Genius

He increases the strain (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

breeder

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'he increases' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'strain' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'strain' could be 'breed' (synonyms) and 'breed' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'er' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for breeder that I've seen before include "Siring horse" , "Stud owner" , "Red beer (anag)" , "One producing offspring" , "Type of nuclear reactor - a rabbit is a fast one!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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