Principles of Plant Breeding (2+1)

Definition

Definition

• Smith defined plant breeding as the art and science of improving the genetic pattern of plants in relation to their economic use. It is a science which uses the knowledge and techniques from many basic science areas. As a continuation of natural evolution plant breeding is an ancient discipline.
• It is not only contributes to agriculture progress by information, but also by material products such as crop varieties, hybrids, composite/ synthetics, which are suited to human needs in one or more aspects. Earliest success were chance affair largely depended upon the breeder’s skill.
• Thomas Robert Malthus 1798 postulated that human populations, unless checked by wars or disasters, increase under hunger. He foresaw catastrophe because he believed that population was capable of increase at a geometric rate and food supply at arithmetic rate. He predicted that Britain would be in disaster by the midnineteenth century. Fortunately his prediction was falsified. Due to tremendous increase in food supplies due to better method of production and improved varieties of plants and breeds of live stock.
• Finally we can expect plant breeding to contribute substantially to greater agriculture production. It was not only by breeding high yielding varieties, but also by stabilizing production through developing resistance to diseases, pests, drought, heat and cold etc.