Speed breeding systems for sustainable food production offer a promising solution to address food security and environmental sustainability. Speed breeding technologies allow accelerating generation of new plant varieties with desired traits in a short period. These systems include genetic selection, vertical hydroponics and data-driven smart sensor applications. Quick generation of plant varieties is achieved by manipulating photoperiods of a native plant with extended light periods in a controlled environment to fasten the crop cycle. This allows for multiple plant generations to be grown and harvested in a single year rather than the typical one to two generations in traditional field-based breeding. The application of molecular markers in the analysis of crop genomes enables the identification and characterization of genetic variation within a crop species. This, in turn, helps breeders in identifying and selecting plants with desirable traits, such as resistance to pests or diseases, or improved yield. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection (GS) are two recent methods that revolutionized plant breeding to improve the efficiency and accuracy of selecting desirable traits. MAS allows breeders to identify desirable traits earlier in the breeding process, without having to wait for the traits to be phenotypically expressed. On the other hand, GS allows breeders to predict the performance of a plant before it is even grown and can help speed up the breeding process by allowing breeders to select plants with desirable traits much earlier in the breeding process.

Plant improvement has shifted its focus from yield, quality and disease resistance to factors that will enhance commerical export, such as early maturity, shelf life and better processing quality. Conventional plant breeding methods aiming at the improvement of a self-pollinating crop, such as wheat, usually take 10-12 years to develop and release of the new variety. During the past 10 years, significant advances have been made and accelerated methods have been developed for precision breeding and early release of crop varieties. This work summarizes concepts dealing with germplasm enhancement and development of improved varieties based on innovative methodologies that include doubled haploidy, marker assisted selection, marker assisted background selection, genetic mapping, genomic selection, high-throughput genotyping, high-throughput phenotyping, mutation breeding, reverse breeding, transgenic breeding, shuttle breeding, speed breeding, low cost high-throughput field phenotyping, etc. It is an important reference with special focus on accelerated development of improved crop varieties.

Plants are vulnerable to pathogens including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, which cause critical problems and deficits. Crop protection by plant breeding delivers a promising solution with no obvious effect on human health or the local ecosystem. Crop improvement has been the most powerful approach for producing unique crop cultivars since domestication occurred, making possible the main innovations in feeding the globe and community development. Genome editing is one of the genetic devices that can be implemented, and disease resistance is frequently cited as the most encouraging application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology in agriculture. Nanobiotechnology has harnessed the power of genome editing to develop agricultural crops. Nanosized DNA or RNA nanotechnology approaches could contribute to raising the stability and performance of CRISPR guide RNAs. This book brings together the latest research in these areas. CRISPR and RNAi Systems: Nanobiotechnology Approaches to Plant Breeding and Protection presents a complete understanding of the RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 techniques for controlling mycotoxins, fighting plant nematodes, and detecting plant pathogens. CRISPR/Cas genome editing enables efficient targeted modification in most crops, thus promising to accelerate crop improvement. CRISPR/Cas9 can be used for management of plant insects, and various plant pathogens. The book is an important reference source for both plant scientists and environmental scientists who want to understand how nano biotechnologically based approaches are being used to create more efficient plant protection and plant breeding systems. - Shows how nanotechnology is being used as the basis for new solutions for more efficient plant breeding and plant protection - Outlines the major techniques and applications of both CRISPR and RNAi technologies - Assesses the major challenges of escalating these technologies on a mass scale

The research field of “plant speed breeding" is promising to meet the future demand for crop improvement in an efficient and effective manner. The process accelerates breeding and research programs through the shortening of the generation time of crops. Plant Speed Breeding and High-Throughput Technologies explores and analyzes a range of innovations from CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing to state-of-the-art controlled-environment growth chambers. The book integrates achievements of plant speed breeding technologies with an emphasis on the fundamental and advanced systems for genome editing, functional genomics, controlled-environment growth chambers, genomic and phenotypic selection methods, and high-throughput technologies. It examines the applications of technologies across major model plants and key crops such as cereals, vegetables, and fruit trees. The book explores high-throughput genotyping using next-generation sequencing systems, enabling precise single nucleotide polymorphism markers, quantitative trait loci mapping, and genome-wide association studies . These tools are used in identifying candidate genes that will revolutionize crop breeding, as they are capable of tolerating complex abiotic and biotic stresses induced by global climate change. Serving as an ideal reference on plant speed breeding technologies, this book is for graduate students, teachers, researchers, and experts in the fields of plant sciences and plant breeding as well as agronomy and agriculture.

Alternate approaches for the exploitation of heterosis and population improvement have been elaborated with the help of schematic diagrams.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book provides a fresh, updated and science-based perspective on the current status and prospects of the diverse array of topics related to the potato, and was written by distinguished scientists with hands-on global experience in research aspects related to potato. The potato is the third most important global food crop in terms of consumption. Being the only vegetatively propagated species among the world’s main five staple crops creates both issues and opportunities for the potato: on the one hand, this constrains the speed of its geographic expansion and its options for international commercialization and distribution when compared with commodity crops such as maize, wheat or rice. On the other, it provides an effective insulation against speculation and unforeseen spikes in commodity prices, since the potato does not represent a good traded on global markets. These two factors highlight the underappreciated and underrated role of the potato as a dependable nutrition security crop, one that can mitigate turmoil in world food supply and demand and political instability in some developing countries. Increasingly, the global role of the potato has expanded from a profitable crop in developing countries to a crop providing income and nutrition security in developing ones. This book will appeal to academics and students of crop sciences, but also policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the potato and its contribution to humankind’s food security.

The ability to culture cells is fundamental for mass propagation and as a baseline for the genetic manipulation of plant nuclei and organelles. The introduction to Plant Cell Culture: Essential Methods provides a general background to plant cell culture, including basic principles, technologies and laboratory practices that underpin the more detailed techniques described in subsequent chapters. Whilst each chapter provides a background to the topic area and methodology, a crucial aspect is the provision of detailed protocols with emphasis on trouble shooting, describing common problems and detailed advice for their avoidance. Plant Cell Culture: Essential Methods provides the reader with a concise overview of these techniques, including micropropagation, mutagenesis, cryopreservation, genetic and plastid transformation and somatic cell technologies. This book will be an essential addition to any plant science laboratory's bookshelf. Highlights the best and most up-to-date techniques for working on plant cell culture Explains clearly and precisely how to carry out selected techniques in addition to background information on the various approaches Chapters are written by leading international authorities in the field and cover both well-known and new, tried and tested, methods for working in plant cell culture An essential laboratory manual for students and early-career researchers.

Assists policymakers in evaluating the appropriate scientific methods for detecting unintended changes in food and assessing the potential for adverse health effects from genetically modified products. In this book, the committee recommended that greater scrutiny should be given to foods containing new compounds or unusual amounts of naturally occurring substances, regardless of the method used to create them. The book offers a framework to guide federal agencies in selecting the route of safety assessment. It identifies and recommends several pre- and post-market approaches to guide the assessment of unintended compositional changes that could result from genetically modified foods and research avenues to fill the knowledge gaps.

Our global agricultural and food system is broken and needs to transition to one that is more sustainable and beneficial to the worlds population. This seems hard in the face of the linked challenges of climate change, natural resource depletion, and worldwide economic and social upheaval. At the same time, farmer-led social movements are growing, and there is increasing recognition that agroecology and food sovereignty are key solutions for both nutritious food security and climate change adaptation. This book takes you along in the transition to agroecology, which is already happening, worldwide! The author shows us the as of yet dispersed but growing movement of many smallholder farmers, projects, programs, research, and policy agendas that are making the change. Since the daily news prevents us from noticing, Jelleke shows us the most beautiful and intriguing examples of ground-breaking people and projects. She gives you the keys for transition. She makes us look back from 2030. What have we done by thenyou and I, your friends and colleagues, investors and politiciansto have arrived in a changed food-secure world where agroecology is the new normal? This book is a must-read for researchers, politicians, students, and consumers alike.

This paper provides guidelines for new high-throughput screening methods – both phenotypic and genotypic – to enable the detection of rare mutant traits, and reviews techniques for increasing the efficiency of crop mutation breeding.