Brown Jack - Plant Breeding

This edition first published 2014 2014 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

First edition published 2008 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Jack, 1955

Plant breeding / Jack Brown, Peter D.S. Caligari, and Hugo A. Campos.{\emdash}2nd edition.

pages cm

First edition published 2008 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-65829-1 (cloth)ISBN 978-0-470-65830-7 (pbk.) 1. Plant breeding. I. Caligari, P. D. S. (Peter D. S.) II. Campos, Hugo A., 1968 III. Title.

SB123.B699 2014

631.5'2dc23

2014011407

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Cover images: Courtesy of Jack Brown

This book has its basis in an earlier text entitled An Introduction to Plant Breeding by Jack Brown and Peter Caligari, which was published in 2008. So why have we produced this current book barely six years after the publication of the previous one? The answer is multiple, but the main driving force is the increasing need of humankind for affordable food, fibres and renewable fuels, which in great part needs to be satisfied through the creation of improved cultivars. Current and future demands from agriculture and an increasing contribution of private breeding organizations, in addition to the more traditional efforts of long-standing public breeding, has significantly improved our knowledge base and the techniques we now have available to improve the efficiency of developing genetically superior cultivars. 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. Let us elaborate further.

1. As per United Nations' figures for the year 2013, world population is projected to exceed 8 billion people by 2025, and 9.6 billion by the year 2050. Although most of the projected population growth will take place in developing countries, where over 8 billion will live by 2050, the most significant increase in population will occur in the least developed countries of the world. To place this in simple numbers, every single day over 200,000 additional children needing to be fed are added to the world population.

2. The rate of accumulation of both fundamental and applied genetic and plant breeding knowledge is ramping up faster than ever before. Drawing from initial research in animal breeding, genomic selection approaches in crop species are being vigorously studied, and their adoption and use into crop breeding programmes has already began. In addition, insights into the molecular basis of genetic variation in plants is being quickly advanced because of the drastic reduction in the cost of DNA sequencing, heavy borrowing from medical translational research; and an increasing awareness of the critical importance of phenotypes to establish better genetic markertrait associations. This holds the promise to significantly improve the efficiency of selecting for a wide range of qualitative and quantitative gene traits in cultivar development.

   Furthermore, the traits developed through transgenic approaches are no longer constrained simply to insect or virus resistance or herbicide tolerance. New biotech traits addressing key global needs such as salt and drought tolerance, nitrogen and water use efficiency, or enhancing food quality are now being developed. Initial transgenic breeding efforts were directed towards improving some of the world's major crop species (i.e. maize, soybean, rice, cotton and canola) which are grown on the widest acreage. These techniques are now being applied to other staple crops, as demonstrated by the recent development of a virus-resistant common bean by public scientists based at EMBRAPA in Brazil.

3. Despite recent recognition of the need to increase public and private funding into cultivar development, over the last decades there has been a worrying decline in public funding for plant breeding-related research and to supporting international centres for 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 for the next generation of plant breeders.

Although based on the earlier edition, this book has been completely reviewed, expanded and updated. We have also developed a companion website providing sections such as Suggested answers to the Think Questions, Further reading and Plant breeding teaching material which can be used by lecturers and students alike.

We hope our book will appeal to undergraduate students of plant breeding, as well as providing valuable insight for graduate students, practicing plant breeders and those wishing to advance their understanding of plant breeding.

Our aim is to provide an integrated and updated view of the current scientific progress related to diverse plant breeding disciplines within the context of applied breeding programmes. By and large, plant breeders are integrators of multiple scientific disciplines, including genetics, biology, plant science, agronomy, food science and statistics, as well as having a keen appreciation and understanding of farmers' needs, both current and future. However, plant breeders also need to be aware of global trends affecting agriculture, such as the likely consequences of climate change for crop adaptation and performance.