The Importance of Plant Trials, Breeding and What it entails!

Plants are one of the most crucial parts of our ecosystem. Apart from providing oxygen and recycling carbon dioxide, they are also an irreplaceable section of the food pyramid. However, all plants are not fit for use. Hence, the process of plant breeding is exercised to enhance plants’ existing qualities.

What is plant breeding?

The science, as well as art of altering traits of plants to make them produce desirable qualities, is known as plant breeding. The practice has been prevalent for over thousands of years, ever since the dawn of the civilisation and is a necessity to supply various items like food, medicines, etc. to human beings.

The process of breeding includes altering the genes of plants to bring qualitative and quantitative changes in them. But it requires a lot of technical know-how. That is why many breeding and development centres lend their expertise to multiple gardeners as well as nurseries to successfully conduct plant trials, development and provide protection.

Why is breeding necessary?

Since most plants were wild, human beings steadily began to experiment and modify them to increase their utility. The reasons as to why plant breeding is a necessity are:

• Breeding makes the plants rich in certain vital nutrients, which otherwise were absent or present in very small quantity.
• The process assists plants to protect themselves against pests, diseases, etc. for long survival.
• Breeding makes the plants adapt to certain extreme conditions like temperature change and severe weather condition.
• Helps to produce a higher yield in crops and other plants to increase the supply of food and meet the increasing demand in the world.

How to avail breeding programmes?

There are several plant breeding and development centres all over the United Kingdom that help gardeners and nurseries to conduct plant trials and create new species. Some of the plant nurseries in Norfolk particularly have been aided by these service providers. Additionally, they even help in getting plant patents, which ensure no one else other than the inventor gets to enjoy the profits of their creation.