Lecture No: 1

Definition, Aim, Objectives and Scope of Plant Breeding

Definition :

Plant breeding can be defined as an art, a science, and technology of improving the
genetic make up of plants in relation to their economic use for the man kind.
or
Plant breeding is the art and science of improving the heredity of plants for the benefit
of mankind.
or
Plant breeding deals with the genetic improvement of crop plants also known as
science of crop improvement.
or
Science of changing and improving the heredity of plants

Aim :

Plant breeding aims to improve the characteristics of plants so that they become more
desirable agronomically and economically. The specific objectives may vary greatly
depending on the crop under consideration.

Objectives of Plant Breeding :

1. Higher yield : The ultimate aim of plant breeding is to improve the yield of
economic produce. It may be grain yield, fodder yield, fibre yield, tuber yield, cane
yield or oil yield depending upon the crop species. Improvement in yield can be
achieved either by evolving high yielding varieties or hybrids.

2. Improved quality: Quality of produce is another important objective in plant

breeding. The quality characters vary from crop to crop. Eg. grain size, colour,
milling and backing quality in wheat. Cooking quality in rice, malting quality in
barley, size, colour and size of fruits, nutritive and keeping quality in vegetables,
protein content in pulses, oil content in oilseeds, fibre length, strength and fineness in
cotton.

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3. Abiotic resistance : Crop plants also suffer from abiotic factors such as drought, soil
salinity, extreme temperatures, heat, wind, cold and frost, breeder has to develop
resistant varieties for such environmental conditions.

4. B iotic resistance : Crop plants are attacked by various diseases and insects, resulting
in considerable yield losses. Genetic resistance is the cheapest and the best method of
minimizing such losses. Resistant varieties are developed through the use of resistant
donor parents available in the gene pool.

5. Change in maturity Duration / Earliness : Earliness is the most desirable character

which has several advantages. It requires less crop management period, less
insecticidal sprays, permits new crop rotations and often extends the crop area.
Development of wheat varieties suitable for late planting has permitted rice-wheat
rotation. Thus breeding for early maturing crop varieties, or varieties suitable for
different dates of planting may be an important objective. Maturity has been reduced
from 270 days to 170 days in cotton, from 270 days to 120 days in pigeonpea, from
360 days to 270 days in sugarcane.

6. Determinate Growth : Development of varieties with determinate growth is

desirable in crops like Mung, Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan ), Cotton (Gossypium sp.),
etc.

7. Dormancy : In some crops, seeds germinate even before harvesting in the standing
crop if there are rains at the time of maturity, e.g., Greengram, Blackgram, Barley
and Pea, etc. A period of dormancy has to be introduced in these crops to check loss
due to germinatio n. In some other cases, however, it may be desirable to remove
dormancy.

8. Desirable Agronomic Characteristics: It includes plant height, branching, tillering

capacity, growth habit, erect or trailing habit etc., is often desirable. For example,
dwarf ness in cereals is generally associated with lodging resistance and better
fertilizer response. Tallness, high tillering and profuse branching are desirable
characters in fodder crops.

9. Elimination of Toxic Substances : It is essential to develop varieties free from toxic

compounds in some crops to make them safe for human consumption. For example,
removal of neurotoxin in Khesari (Lathyruys sativus) which leads to paralysis of
lower limbs, erucic acid from Brassica which is harmful for human health, and

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 gossypol from the seed of cotton is necessary to make them fit for human
consumption. Removal of such toxic substances would increase the nutritional value
of these crops.

10. Non-shattering characteristics: The shattering of pods is serious problem in green

gram. Hence resistance to shattering is an important objective in green gram.

11. Synchronous Maturity : It refers to maturity of a crop species at one time. The
character is highly desirable in crops like Greengram, Cowpea, and Cotton where
several pickings are required for crop harvest.

12. Photo and Thermo insensitivity: Development of varieties insensitive to light and
temperature helps in crossing the cultivation boundaries of crop plants. Photo and
thermo-insensitive varieties of wheat and rice has permitted their cultivation in new
areas. Rice is now cultivated in Punjab, while wheat is a major rabi crop in West
Bengal.

13. Wider adaptability : Adaptability refers to suitability of a variety for general

cultivation over a wide range of environmental conditions. Adaptability is an
important objective in plant breeding because it helps in stabilizing the crop
production over regions and seasons.

14. Varieties for New Seasons : Traditionally Maize is a kharif crop. But scientists are
now able to grow Maize as rabi and zaid crops. Similarly, mung is grown as a
summer crop in addition to the main kharif crop.

Scope of plant breeding (Future Prospects)

From times immemorial, the plant breeding has been helping the mankind. With
knowledge of classical genetics, number of varieties have been evolved in different crop
plants. In order to combat the global alarm created by population explosion, the food front
has to be strengthened which is serious challenge to those scientists concerned with
agriculture. Advances in molecular biology have sharpened the tools of the breeders, and
brighten the prospects of confidence to serve the humanity. The application of biotechnology
to field crop has already led to the field testing of genetically modified crop plants.
Genetically engineered Rice, Maize, Soybean, Cotton, Oilseeds Rape, Sugar Beet and Alfalfa
cultivars are expected to be commercialized before the close of 20th century. Genes from
varied organisms may be expected to boost the performance of crops especially with regard

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 to their resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, crop plants are likely to be
cultivated for recovery of valuable compounds like pharmaceuticals produced by genes
introduced into them through genetic engineering. It may be pointed out that in Europe
hirudin, an anti-thrombin protein is already being produced from transgenic Brassica napus.

Undesirable effects
Plant breeding has several useful applications in the improvement of crop plants.
However, it has five main undesirable effects on crop plants.

1. Reduction in Diversity : Modern improved varieties are more uniform than land
races. Thus plant breeding leads to reduction in diversity. The uniform varieties are
more prone to the new races of pathogen than land races which have high genetic
diversity.

2. Narrow genetic base : Uniform varieties have narrow genetic base. Such varieties
generally have poor adaptability.

3. Danger of Uniformity : Most of the improved varieties have some common parents
in the pedigree which may cause danger of uniformity.

4. Undesirable combinations : Sometimes, plant breeding leads to undesirable

combinations. The examples of man made crops having undesirable combination of
characters are Raphanobrassica and Pomato.

5. Increased susceptibility to minor diseases and pests : Due to emphasis on breeding

for resistance to major diseases and insect pests often resulted in an increased
susceptibility to minor diseases and pests. These have gained importance and, in some
cases, produced severe epidemics. The epidemic caused by Botrytis cinerea (grey
mold) in chickpea during 1980-82 Punjab, Haryana. The severe infection by Karnal
bunt (Tilletia sp.) on some wheat varieties, infestation of mealy bugs in Bt cotton.

Lecture No. 2
History and development of plant breeding

- The process of br inging a wild species under human management is referred to as

domestication
- Domestication may be the most basic method of plant breeding
- Domestication continuous today and is likely to continue for some time in future

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- Ex : In case of timber trees medicinal plants, microbes
- During the long period of historic cultivation natural selection has definitely acted on
the domesticated species.
- Movement of man from one place to another brought about the movement of his
cultivated plant species
- 700 BC - Babylonians and Assyrians pollinated date palm artificially
- 17th century - several varieties of heading lettuce were developed in France
- 1717 - Thomas Fair Child - produced the first artificial hybrid, popularly known
as Fair Child’s mule, by using carnation with sweet William
- 1727 - The first plant breeding company was established in France by the vilmorins.
- 1760-1766 - Joseph koelreuter, a German, made extensive crosses in tobacco.
- 1759-1835 – Knight was perhaps the first man to use artificial hybridization to
develop several new fruit varieties.
- Le couteur and Shireff used individual plant selections and progeny test to develop
some useful cereal varieties
- 1873 - the work of Patrick Shireff was first published.
- He concluded that only the variation heritable nature responded to selections, and that
there variation arose through ‘natural sports’ (= mutation) and by ‘natural
hybridization’
(= recombination during meiosis in the hybrids so produced).
- 1856 - Vilmorin developed the progeny test and used this method successfully in the
improvement of sugar beets.
- 1900 - Nilson-Ehle, his associates developed the individual plant selection method in
Sweden.
- 1903 - Johannsen proposed the pureline theory that provided the genetic basis for
individual plant selection.
- The science of genetics began with the rediscovery of Gregor Johan Mendel’s paper
in 1900 by Hugo de veris, Tshermark and Correns which was originally published in
1866.
- The modern plant breeding methods have their bases in the genetic and cytogenetic
principles.
- Numerous workers who determined the various modes of inheritance have contributed
to the development and understanding of plant breeding.

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 - The discovery of chromosomes as carriers of genes has led to the development of
specialized plant breeding methods for chromosome engineering.
- The totipotency of plant somatic and gametic cells allows regeneration of complete
plants from single cells. This, coupled with the development of recombinant DNA
technology, has enabled the transfer of desirable genes from any organism into plants.
Crop varieties developed in this manner are already in cultivation in several countries.

History of plant breeding in India

- 1871 – The Government of India created the Department of Agriculture

- 1905 – The Imperial Agricultural Research Institute was establish in Pusa, Bihar
- 1934 – The buildings of the institute damaged in earthquake
- 1936 – Shifted to New Delhi
- 1946 – Name was changed Indian Agricultural Research Institute
- 1901-05 – Agricultural Colleges were established at Kanpur, Pune, Sabour, Llyalpur,
Coimbatore
- 1929 – Imperial council of Agricultural Research was established
- 1946 – Name was change to Indian Council Agricultural Research
- 1921 – Indian Central Cotton Committee was established – Notable researches on
breeding and cultivation of cotton. Eg : 70 improved varieties of cotton
- 1956 – Project for intensification of regional research on cotton, oilseeds and millets
(PIRRCOM) was initiated to intensify research on these crops – located at 17
different centres through out the country
- 1957 – All India Coordinated maize improvement project was started with objective
of exploiting heterosis
- 1961 - The first hybrid maize varieties released by the project
- ICAR initiated coordinated projects for improvement of the other crops
- 1960 – First Agricultural University established at Pantnagar, Nainital, U.P.
Scientific contributions of eminent scientists

Name of the Scientists Contributions

Allard and Bradshaw - G x E interaction
Recurrent Selection for SCA - Hull
Recurrent Selection for GCA - Jenkins
Dominance hypothesis - Davenport