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The improvement of asexually propagated plants through induced mutations has distinct advantages and limitations. Any vegetative propagule can be treated with mutagens and even a single desirable mutant or a part of a mutated propagule (chimera) can be multiplied as an improved type of the original variety.
Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is when farmers are involved in a crop improvement programme with opportunities to make decisions and contribute to the research process at different stages. [ 34 ] [ 35 ] [ 36 ] Participatory approaches to crop improvement can also be applied when plant biotechnologies are being used for crop improvement. [ 37 ]
Crop diversity or crop biodiversity is the variety and variability of crops, plants used in agriculture, including their genetic and phenotypic characteristics. It is a subset of a specific element of agricultural biodiversity .
Most approaches to crop improvement, including conventional breeding, genome modification and gene editing, rely primarily on the fundamental processes of DNA repair and recombination. [10] Our current understanding of DNA repair and recombination mechanisms in plants was derived largely from prior studies in prokaryotes , yeast and animals, so ...
Intraspecific diversity, the variety of alleles within a single species, also offers us a choice in our diets. If a crop fails in a monoculture, we rely on agricultural diversity to replant the land with something new. If a wheat crop is destroyed by a pest we may plant a hardier variety of wheat the next year, relying on intraspecific diversity.
From 1930 to 2014 more than 3200 mutagenic plant varieties were released [3] [4] that have been derived either as direct mutants (70%) or from their progeny (30%). [5] Crop plants account for 75% of released mutagenic species with the remaining 25% ornamentals or decorative plants. [ 6 ]
This is an important improvement on ordinary fortification when it comes to providing nutrients for the rural poor, who rarely have access to commercially fortified foods. As such, biofortification is seen as an upcoming strategy for dealing with deficiencies of micronutrients in low and middle-income countries.
However, more may need to be done, because plant genetic variety, the source of crop health and seed quality, depends on a diversity of landraces and other traditionally used varieties. [9] Efforts (as of 2008) were mostly focused on Iberia, the Balkans, and European Russia, and dominated by species from mountainous areas. [4]