Plant Breeding is the genetic improvement of crop plants for human benefit through the study and application of multiple scientific disciplines. Plant breeding is also described as the collection, creation/manipulation, and evaluation of genetic variation to make heritable changes in plants that are advantageous to mankind.
What is the importance of Plant Breeding?
It addresses world food security issues directly or indirectly by:
- Increasing the efficiency/productivity of crops and production system.
- Improving the bioavailability of key nutrients or reducing antinutritive compounds.
- Developing crops for specific production systems.
- Making forages more digestible and creating efficient bio renewable fuels.
Why Study Plant Breeding?
- The world is facing unprecedented Grand Challenges that include:
- The world population is growing significantly and is predicted to be >9 billion by 2050.
- There are no appreciable changes in availability of crop land globally.
- Water tables are falling.
- Climate change is increasing risks associated with crop production.
- Crop yields must increase 2-fold by 2050 to meet the projected global demand for food and feed.
- Plant Breeders play a central role in addressing these grand challenges by enhancing the quantity and quality of food, feed, fiber and biofuels globally, even under these difficult scenarios.
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