About the book

This book, Plant Breeding, has it bases in an earlier text entitled An Introduction to Plant Breeding by Jack Brown and Peter Caligari, first published in 2008. The challenges facing today’s plant breeders have never been more overwhelming, yet the prospects to contribute significantly to global food security and farmers’ quality of life have never been more exciting and fulfilling.  Despite this there has been a worrying decline in public funding for plant breeding-related research and  support for international centers of germplasm development and crop improvement.   In part, this has resulted in a serious reduction in the number of young people interested in devoting their professional careers to plant breeding as well as the number of universities offering plant breeding courses or conducting relevant research in plant breeding.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

2 Modes of Reproduction and Types of Cultivar 13

3 Breeding Objectives 21

4 Breeding Schemes 40

5 Genetics and Plant Breeding 68

6 Predictions 104

7 Selection 125

8 Broadening the Genetic Basis 168

9 Contemporary Approaches in Plant Breeding 185

10 Practical Considerations 198

11 Current Developments in Plant Breeding 223