Importance Of Plant Breeding Services

Trees and Plants are indispensable for human living and for maintaining ecological balance. So, horticulturist realized the need for breeding and maintenance right from the first step, a plant starts to grow i.e., the seed. Now the question is what is plant breeding?

It is the art and science of breeding new and improved varieties of plants. It adopts the plant genetics to bring in improved quality, variety and production of better human living. It came into existence thousands of years, and since then practised by various organizations, farmers and even government.

This purposeful manipulation in plants includes either controlled pollination or genetic engineering, or use of both, tracked by artificial assortment of progeny.

The horticulturist recognizes the desirable traits in plants and incorporates them into future generations using plant breeding. Breeders scrutinize all the variety looking for the individual plants that exhibit necessary traits. A few traits rarely arise through the procedure of mutation, but its natural rate is very slow and unreliable.

International horticulture agencies consider that breeding new crops ensures food security and develops modern practices through crop development suitable for the environment.

Types of plant breeding

Basically plant breeding process is of two types:

• The traditional breeding
• The convention alone.

Traditional process: Methodical crossing of distinct species are made to produce desired properties in new crops. Plant Breeding is carried forward to introduce new features with a new genetic background. Offspring's from these cross is again crossed with high-yielding variety to make sure that the Offspring is the high-yielding one.

Modern process: Modern plant breeding technique uses molecular biology to bring in genetic modification, and to bring in desirable traits into plants. This process is more popular these days.

Steps involved in Plant Breeding

1. Creation and variation
2. Selection of plant
3. Evaluation of traits
4. Release
5. Multiplication process
6. Distribution of new varieties.

Importance of Plant Breeding

Plant Breeding is introduced to create new varieties of plants that not only yield more, but have longer life span, resistant to insects and pests. At times plant breeding is also carried out to create new colours, extend the growing seasons and flowering even at off seasons.