Managing Global Genetic Resources

Managing Global Genetic Resources
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 476
Release: 1993-02-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309131863

This anchor volume to the series Managing Global Genetic Resources examines the structure that underlies efforts to preserve genetic material, including the worldwide network of genetic collections; the role of biotechnology; and a host of issues that surround management and use. Among the topics explored are in situ versus ex situ conservation, management of very large collections of genetic material, problems of quarantine, the controversy over ownership or copyright of genetic material, and more.

Crop Wild Relatives and Climate Change

Crop Wild Relatives and Climate Change
Author: Robert J. Redden
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2015-08-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1118854330

Two major challenges to continued global food security are the ever increasing demand for food products, and the unprecedented abiotic stresses that crops face due to climate change.Wild relatives of domesticated crops serve as a reservoir of genetic material, with the potential to be used to develop new, improved varieties of crops. Crop Wild Relative and Climate Change integrates crop evolution, breeding technologies and biotechnologies, improved practices and sustainable approaches while exploring the role wild relatives could play in increasing agricultural output. Crop Wild Relative and Climate Change begins with overviews of the impacts of climate change on growing environments and the challenges that agricultural production face in coming years and decades. Chapters then explore crop evolution and the potential for crop wild relatives to contribute novel genetic resources to the breeding of more resilient and productive crops. Breeding technologies and biotechnological advances that are being used to incorporate key genetic traits of wild relatives into crop varieties are also covered. There is also a valuable discussion on the importance of conserving genetic resources to ensure continued successful crop production. A timely resource, Crop Wild Relative and Climate Change will be an invaluable resource for the crop science community for years to come.

Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species

Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species
Author: James F. Hancock
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2012
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781780641423

This book is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with the evolutionary processes, describing the chromosome structure, genetic variation, multifactorial genome, polyploidy, gene duplication and speciation. Part 2 deals with the origins of agriculture and the dynamics of plant domestication, covering some cereal grains, protein plants, starchy staple and sugar crops, as well as fruit, vegetable, fibre and oil crops. A chapter on ex situ and in situ conservation of germplasm resources is included.

Genes in the Field

Genes in the Field
Author: International Plant Genetic Resources Institute
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2000
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

Genes in the Field: Conserving Plant Diversity on Farms is a comprehensive collection of papers focusing on agricultural conservation and diversity issues throughout the world. Recently, regional and local farm seed variety has been reduced because of increased population, agricultural science and technology and the integration of the world's many diverse cultures. Because of this, diversity on individual farms across wide regions is threatened by modern crop varieties that have been bred for broad adaptation, resistance to disease, and other risk factors such as their ability to better use water, fertilizer, and higher yields. The concern of the farmers to maintain production levels and income often seems incompatible with those whose focus is on the maintenance of viable and sustainable ecosystems and maintaining genetic diversity. Exploring and understanding these different concerns is an essential starting point for answering some of the key questions about the implementation of "on farm" conservation and the role of local cultivators in sustainable development.

Plant Evolution under Domestication

Plant Evolution under Domestication
Author: Gideon Ladizinsky
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 940114429X

This book emerged from a series of lectures on crop evolution at the Faculty of Agriculture of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While many textbooks are available on general evolution, only a few deal with evolution under domestication. This book is a modest attempt to bridge this gap. It was written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of crop evolution, ethnobotany, plant breeding and related subjects. Evolution under domestication is unique in the general field of plant evolution for three main reasons: (a) it is recent, having started not much more than 10 000 years ago with the emergence of agri culture; (b) the original plant material, i. e. the wild progenitors of many important crop plants, still grow in their natural habitats; (c) man played in this process. These factors enable a more reliable a major role assessment of the impact of different evolutionary forces such as hybridization, migration, selection and drift under new circumstances. Interestingly, a great part of evolution under domestication has been unconscious and a result of agricultural practices which have created a new selection criteria, mostly against characters favored by natural selec tion. Introducing crop plants to new territories exposed them to different ecological conditions enhancing selection for new characters. Diversity in characters associated with crop plants evolution is virtually absent in theit wild progenitors and most of it has evolved under domestication.

Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield

Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield
Author: L. T. Evans
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 516
Release: 1996-05-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521295581

In this major 1993 work, Lloyd Evans provides an integrated view of the domestication, adaptation and improvement of crop plants, bringing together genetic diversity, plant breeding, physiology and aspects of agronomy. Considerations of yield and maximum yield provide continuity throughout the book. Food, feed, fibre, fuel and pharmaceutical crops are all discussed. Cereals, grain legumes and root crops, both temperate and tropical, provide many of the examples, but pasture plants, oilseeds, leafy crops, fruit trees and others are also considered. After the introductory chapter, the increasing significance of crop yields to the world's food supply is highlighted. The next three chapters consider changes to crop plants over the last ten thousand years, including domestication, adaptation and improvement. Aimed at research workers and advanced students in crop physiology and ecology, agronomy and plant breeding, this book also reaches conclusions of relevance to those concerned with developmental policy, agricultural research and management, environmental quality, resource depletion and human history.