A basic objective of any plant breeding program is to develop superior crop variety with desired characteristics like disease resistance, pest resistance, high nutritive value, easy to harvest, high oil percentage, good milling and baking qualities, high productivity etc.
Heredity of such desired characteristics can be improved by breeding.
Technologies used for heredity improvement are
- A. Conventional plant breeding
- B. Non- conventional plant breeding
The later two non-conventional plant breeding techniques are termed as plant biotechnology or plant genetics.
Applications of Biotechnology in Agriculture
- Improving crop yield
- Decreasing requirement for crop inputs like water, fertilizer etc.
- Pest resistance incorporation
- Herbicide tolerance incorporation
- Tolerance to environmental stresses like drought, acidic or salty soil conditions, cold, heat etc.
- Improving productivity
- To improve nutritional value
- To improve shelf life