This book describes how the latest genomic resources techniques can be efficiently used in plant breeding programmes to achieve food security in the future. It also shares insights on how to utilize the untapped and unexplored genetic diversity of wild species, wild relatives and landraces for crop improvement. Moreover, the book offers an impressive array of balanced analyses, fresh ideas and perspectives, and thoughtful and realistic proposals regarding the sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources with modern biotechnological techniques. The first book to address the importance of plant genetics and genomic resources for food security, it brings together a group of plant breeders and biotechnologists to investigate the use of genomic resources techniques in plant breeding programmes. Providing essential information on the efficient utilization of genomic resources in precision breeding, it offers a valuable asset for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers and professionals engaged in related fields.

This book describes how the latest genomic resources techniques can be efficiently used in plant breeding programmes to achieve food security in the future. It also shares insights on how to utilize the untapped and unexplored genetic diversity of wild species, wild relatives and landraces for crop improvement. Moreover, the book offers an impressive array of balanced analyses, fresh ideas and perspectives, and thoughtful and realistic proposals regarding the sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources with modern biotechnological techniques. The first book to address the importance of plant genetics and genomic resources for food security, it brings together a group of plant breeders and biotechnologists to investigate the use of genomic resources techniques in plant breeding programmes. Providing essential information on the efficient utilization of genomic resources in precision breeding, it offers a valuable asset for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers and professionals engaged in related fields.

Wild Germplasm for Genetic Improvement in Crop Plants addresses the need for an integrated reference on a wide variety of crop plants, facilitating comparison and contrast, as well as providing relevant relationships for future research and development. The book presents the genetic and natural history value of wild relatives, covers what wild relatives exist, explores the existing knowledge regarding specific relatives and the research surrounding them and identifies knowledge gaps. As understanding the role of crop wild relatives in plant breeding expands the genetic pool for abiotic and biotic stress resistance, this is an ideal reference on this important topic. - Provides a single-volume resource to important crops for accessible comparison and research - Explores both conventional and molecular approaches to breeding for targeted traits and allows for expanded genetic variability - Guides the development of hybrids for germplasm with increased tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses

This edited book deals with plant genetic resources and their status, availability, and ecological niche in natural habitat. Usage and conservation practices followed by various tribal communities and their rationale are also discussed in the book. The book explores application of biological tools to conserve plant species and optimization protocols for conservation and elicitation of secondary metabolites and other value addition products. The book is organized into sub-themes covering: (i) Ecological status of plant genetic resources (ii) Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and conservation practices (iii) Ex-situ conservation practices and bioprospecting Globally, plant genetic resources are deeply rooted in culture and economy. Since the early 1990s, the changing socio-economic situation has increasingly put pressure on plant genetic resources, in some cases leading to a severe loss of their diversity. For this reason, most vulnerable areas at risk of genetic erosion have been demarcated and protected by forest laws and regulations. Therefore, this book brings to light the opinions of leading experts in the area of ecology, conservation biodiversity, ethanobotany, and bioprospecting of plant genetic resources. The book is for use by graduate and advanced undergraduate students and researchers in plant physiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and agriculture. Additionally, it is extremely useful as a general reference on conservation of flora and large-scale cultivation.

The global population is projected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, and food and feed production will need to increase by 70%. Wheat, maize and sorghum are three key cereals which provide nutrition for the majority of the world's population. Their production is affected by various abiotic stresses which cause significant yield losses. The effects of climate change also increase the frequency and severity of such abiotic stresses. Molecular breeding technologies offer real hope for improving crop yields. Although significant progress has been made over the last few years, there is still a need to bridge the large gap between yields in the most favorable and most stressful conditions.

This book presents the proceedings of the 10th Central European Congress on Food (CEFood), held on June 11-13, 2020, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It reports on recent advances in the area of food science and food technology, and is divided into 5 major topical sections: food analysis, food energy systems, food trends and competitiveness, food and feed chain management, and modern challenges. Offering a timely snapshot of cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research and developments in modern food science and technology, these proceedings facilitate the transfer of these findings to industry. As such, the book will appeal to researchers and professionals in the food and agricultural industries, as well as those at regulatory and food safety agencies.

This book highlights the recent progress on the applications of mutation breeding technology in crop plants. Plant breeders and agriculturists are faced with the new challenges of climate change, human population growth, and dwindling arable land and water resources which threaten to sustain food production worldwide. Genetic variation is the basis which plant breeders require to produce new and improved cultivars. The understanding of mutation induction and exploring its applications has paved the way for enhancing genetic variability for various plant and agronomic characters, and led to advances in gene discovery for various traits. Induced mutagenesis has played a significant role in crop improvement and currently, the technology has resulted in the development and release of more than 3600 mutant varieties in most of the crop plants with great economic impact. The field of ‘mutation breeding’ has come long way to become an important approach for crop improvement. This book covers various methodologies of mutation induction, screening of mutants, genome editing and genomics advances and mutant gene discovery. The book further discusses success stories in different countries and applications of mutation breeding in food crops, horticultural plants and plantation crops. This informative book is very useful to plant breeders, students and researchers in the field of agriculture, plant sciences, food science and genetics.

This edited book collates latest findings in the field of agro-biodiversity and agri-ecosystem management across the globe through selected case studies. The primary aim of the book is to cover agro-biodiversity and agri-ecosystem advancements in the field of agricultural resource management. The book explores a range of technologies that support sustainable use of resources and facilities, such as Natural Resource Management (NRM), Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs), Integrated Farming System (IFS), Integrated Crop Management (ICM), Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), use of solar energy, promotion of agro-ecological zone specific agricultural production, application of climate resilient technologies, secondary agricultural practices and post-harvest technologies. Agro-biodiversity and agri-ecosystem not only contributes to overall growth of the economy but also reduces poverty by providing employment and food security to the majority of the population in the continent and thus it is the most inclusive growth sectors of the economy of Asian and African countries. The book is relevant for researchers and policy makes in the field of agriculture, food system research, ecology, agricultural diversification, resource management etc.

This book presents deliberations on molecular and genomic mechanisms underlying the interactions of crop plants to the biotic stresses caused by different diseases and pests that are important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding, and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in cereal crops is imperative for addressing FHNEE (food, health, nutrition, energy, and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing has provided precise information regarding the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining, and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to biotic stresses. The eight chapters each dedicated to a cereal crop in this volume elucidate on different types of biotic stresses and their effects on and interaction with the crop; enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to biotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing biotic stress-resistant crop varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate on different genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery, and gene pyramiding for developing adaptive crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields, and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating biotic stress-resistant crops.