Advanced Crop Improvement, Volume 2

As per the reports of FAO, the human population will rise to 9 billion by the end of 2050 and 70% of more food must be produced over the next three decades to feed the additional population. The breeding approaches for crop improvement programs are dependent on the availability and accessibility of genetic variation, either spontaneous or induced by the mutagens. Plant breeders, agronomists, and geneticists are under constant pressure to expand food production by employing innovative breeding strategies to enhance yield, adaptability, nutrition, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In conventional breeding approaches, introgression of genes in crop varieties is laborious and time-consuming. Nowadays, new innovative plant breeding techniques such as molecular breeding and plant biotechnology, supplement the traditional breeding approaches to achieve the desired goals of enhanced food production. With the advent of recent molecular tools like genomics, transgenics, molecular marker-assisted back-crossing, TILLING, Eco-TILLING, gene editing, CRISPR CAS, non-targeted protein abundant comparative proteomics, genome wide association studies have made possible mapping of important QTLs, insertion of transgenes, reduction of linkage drags, and manipulation of genome. In general, conventional and modern plant breeding approaches would be strategically ideal for developing new elite crop varieties to meet the feeding requirement of the increasing world population.

This book highlights the latest progress in the field of plant breeding, and their applicability in crop improvement. The basic concept of this 2-volume work is to assess the use of modern breeding strategies in supplementing the conventional breeding toward the development of elite crop varieties, for obtaining desired goals of food production.

Detailed case studies of mutation and molecular breeding as techniques that boost genetic diversity in food crops Highlights the contribution of induced mutagenesis techniques for targeting desirable traits Documents solutions to food security and research obstacles with the incorporation of modern breeding techniques

Autorentext
Aamir Raina is currently working as Assistant Professor in Department of Botany, at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Dr. Raina obtained his Masters in Botany in 2013 with specialization in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Dr. Raina earned the Degree of Doctorate in 2018 for his research work on "Induced Mutagenesis in Cowpea" from the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. His current research interests are the selection for novel mutations induced by mutagens in pulses, medicinal and aromatic plants and elucidation of physiological and molecular mechanisms in response to mutagens and looking for suitable germplasm donors for breeding purpose. Working on the mutagenesis of plants, Dr. Raina has found a significant role of mutagens in the regulation of plant growth and development and have suggested that mutagens could play an important role in improving the yield and yield attributing traits of crops. Recognizing the contribution of Dr. Raina in the field of mutation breeding, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria appointed Dr. Raina as Technical Corporation Expert and Lecturer to conduct National level mutation breeding training in Sudan. The successful conduct of Dr. Raina in different IAEA proj¬ects as an expert supported his research in mutation breeding of crops and proved his ability to work in a multicultural environment. Considering all his achieve¬ments and outstanding contributions in the field of Plant Science, he has been conferred with various research fellowships including CSIR JRF, DBT-SRF, GATE, ICAR NET, JKSET and Nuffic OKP (recieved from Dutch Ministry of foreign Affairs, The Netherlands) and awards including National Environmental Science Academy (NESA) Young scientist and Bharat Vikas Award. He has been recognized as Young Scientist of the Year 2018, receiving theaward from President of NESA, India. Dr. Raina has published more than 40 journal articles and 25 book chapters. Dr. Raina has edited special issues on research topic entitled "Legume Breeding in Transition: Innovation and Outlook" in Frontiers in Genetics and "Emerging Talents in Horticulture Breeding and Genetics 2022" in Frontiers in Horticulture. He is among the editorial board mem¬bers of many scientific journals such as Frontiers in Plant Science, Frontiers in Genetics, Scientific Reports, PLOS One, and BMC Plant Biology. Dr. Raina has par¬ticipated and presented several research papers in dif¬ferent national and international conferences. Dr. Raina has also attended many workshops, trainings, and short courses under scholarships from national and interna¬tional funding agencies.
Mohammad Rafiq Wani is currently working as Assistant Professor (Selection Grade) in the Department of Botany at Abdul Ahad Azad Memorial Degree College Bemina, Cluster University Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Dr. Wani did his Masters' degree in Botany in 2003 with a specialization in Genetics and Plant Breeding from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. After obtaining the Degree of Doctorate in 2008 for his research work on "Chemical Mutagenesis in Mungbean" from the same university, he joined the Department of Higher Education, Jammu and Kashmir Government in 2009. He teaches a range of bioscience-related subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dr. Wani's research interests are primarily focused on induced mutagenesis and molecular biology in food crops more particularly in pulse crops. As a part of his research endeavor, Dr. Wani has extensively researched and writ¬ten on the issues of induced mutagenesis infood crops, with special reference to pulses. He has published more than 65 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and 20 book chapters in various research-oriented volumes. Dr. Wani, while constantly working for his academic and research interests, has so far edited six volumes of books on the subjects of Plant Stress Physiology, Induced Plant Mutagenesis, and Crop Improvement with reputed international publishers like Springer and Wageningen Academic Publishers, the Netherlands.
Rafiul Amin Laskar is Assistant Professor of Plant Sciences affiliated with the Department of Botany, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsha Mahavidyalaya (PDUAM), Eraligool, Karimganj, Assam, India. He received his M.Sc. in Botany with specialization in Genetics and Plant Breeding in 2012 and DBT-PDTC in Plant Tissue Culture and Micropropagation in 2013 from the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Dr. Laskar has obtained his Ph.D. in 2018 from the Faculty of Life Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, for his work on Induced Mutagenesis. After completing his Ph.D., he worked as a Guest Faculty at Nagaland University, Lumami for over 1 year and as an Assistant Professor at Bahona College, Jorhat for over 3 year. Dr. Laskar is actively engaged in research on mutation breeding in grain legumes for genetic improvement of qualitative and quantitative traits. He is a life member of the various educative societies and associations and had been active member of the interdisciplinary societies. To his credit are edited book, 10 book chapters published by reputed publishing companies like Springer and more than 50 other publications as research papers, editorials, popu¬lar science articles, review papers, and other reports. He has edited a special issue entitled "Legume Breeding in Transition: Innovation and Outlook" in Frontiers in Genetics and is serving as Editorial Board Member of many journals. He has presented a number of research papers in various national and international conferences and symposiums. He has attended many workshops and short courses under scholarship from national and internati…