Gene editing is a method that enables plant breeders to make precise changes to the plant’s genetic material, which can improve their productivity and sustainability. This often mirrors changes that could occur in nature or through traditional breeding. When a plant breeder edits a plant’s DNA it is similar to editing text on a word …
What is gene editing and how is it used by plant breeders? Read More »
For millennia, we’ve been changing plants to suit our needs. Over time, we’ve implemented our accumulated knowledge of plant biology to develop more precise and efficient plant breeding methods. Initially, we changed weeds and wild plants into crops, and adapted crops to local cultivation and farming conditions through selection. Among the scientific breakthroughs, the following …
a) Farmer benefits As a result of innovations in plant breeding, we can improve efficiency and effectiveness of delivering the products of plant breeding innovations to farmers and subsequently, consumers, by reducing the development time of new varieties; by rapidly adapting crops and plant varieties to a changing climate, as well as increasing options for …
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‘Plant breeding innovation’ is the term used by the International Seed Federation (ISF) and plant scientists worldwide to describe the continuous evolution of plant breeding methods. Today’s innovations in plant breeding are developed using sophisticated methods, including cell biology, genome and proteome research, gene mapping and marker-assisted breeding, which have led to the development of …
Plant breeders specialise in the development of new plant varieties with improved characteristics. Their goal is to combine as many useful characteristics as possible in one plant. For farmers, these characteristics may be disease resistance or drought tolerance. For consumers, they may include nutritional quality, flavour or appearance. For food manufacturers and retailers, they may …
Put simply, plant breeding improves plants in order to grow better crops with desired characteristics. We’ve been improving plants for thousands of years – long before breeding existed as a formal discipline. Plant breeding is based on this long history of experience, and the tools that help to achieve these improvements continue to evolve as …
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines food security as a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.í From this definition, food security can be …
Any genetic material of plant origin that is of potential value for creating improved germplasm is a plant genetic resource. Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are, in general, sub-divided in the following five categories: wild and weed species that are closely related to cultivated species landraces special genetic stocks including elite and current …
ISF considers the definition used in the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention to be the most appropriate. It reads as follows: Variety means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, which grouping, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of a breederís right are fully met, can …
