What is Plant Breeding?

by W. F. Tracy

The great power of this principle of selection is not hypothetical.
Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species

Abstract

Distilled to its essence, plant breeding is human directed selection in genetically variable populations of plants. Selection based on the phenotype is the key feature of plant breeding programs. The reliance on selection, both artificial and natural, differentiates plant breeding from other technologies. The target population must be genetically variable, otherwise no change can occur. If successful, selection results in a population that is phenotypically and genetically different from the starting population.

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