Chapter 1 - Plant breeding: past, present, and future perspectives

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the past, present, and future of plant breeding particularly geared toward cultivar development. Plant breeders have made tremendous progress in the genetic enhancement of yield, adaptation traits, disease–pest resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, and nutritional and/or end-use quality, increasing crop production and the productivity (yield per unit area) of major crops. With the increasing needs of human population and an ever-increasing climatic variability, plant breeding becomes more important than ever to respond to production challenges to ensure a stable food, feed, and fiber supply. The recent research advances in the areas of biotechnology, genomics, and phenomics provide sophisticated tools to plant breeders to build improved cultivars. Major topics covered in this chapter include crop domestication, pre-Mendelian and Mendelian plant breeding, and plant breeding in the 20th and 21st centuries, which include details on green revolution, genetically modified crops, molecular marker tools, image-based phenotyping, machine learning methods, relationship between private and public sector plant breeding organization, and future plant breeding efforts.