Breeding Major Food Staples

441 Pages·2007·4.639 MB·English

Breeding
Major
Food
Staples
Editors:

Manjit S. Kang
P.M. Priyadarshan
Breeding Major Food Staples
Breeding Major
Food Staples
Edited by
Manjit S. Kang and P.M. Priyadarshan
Manjit S. Kang, Ph.D., is Professor (Retired) of Quantitative Genetics, Louisiana State University and is now Vice
Chancallor of Punjab Agricultural University at Ludhiana.
P. M. Priyadarshan, Ph.D., is a plant breeder at the Rubber Research Institute of India.
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First edition, 2007
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Breeding major food staples / edited by Manjit S. Kang and P.M. Priyadarshan.—1. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8138-1835-1 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8138-1835-4 (alk. paper)
1. Food crops—Breeding. 2. Crop improvement. I. Kang, Manjit S. II. Priyadarshan, P. M.
SB175.B74 2007
631.5′2—dc22
2007008143
The last digit is the print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents
Foreword by Gurdev S. Khush vii
Preface by Manjit S. Kang and P.M. Priyadarshan ix
Contributor List xiii
Part 1: General Topics 3
Chapter 1: Crop Breeding Methodologies: Classic and Modern 5
Manjit S. Kang, Prasanta K. Subudhi, Niranjan Baisakh,
and P.M. Priyadarshan
Chapter 2: Genetic Enhancement of Polypoid Crops Using Tools of
Classical Cytogenetics and Modern Biotechnology 41
Prem P. Jauhar
Chapter 3: Biofortifi cation: Breeding Micronutrient-Dense Crops 61
Wolfgang H. Pfeiffer and Bonnie McClafferty
Chapter 4: Bioinformatics and Plant Genomics for Staple Crops Improvement 93
David Edwards
Part 2: Cereals and Oil/Protein Crops 107
Chapter 5: Breeding Spring Bread Wheat for Irrigated and Rainfed Production
Systems of the Developing World 109
Ravi P. Singh and Richard Trethowan
Chapter 6: Rice Breeding for Sustainable Production 141
Sant S. Virmani and M. Ilyas-Ahmed
Chapter 7: Barley Breeding for Sustainable Production 193
Salvatore Ceccarelli, Stefania Grando, Flavio Capettini,
and Michael Baum
Chapter 8: Corn Breeding in the Twenty-fi rst Century 227
G. Richard Johnson
v
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 9: Soybean Breeding Achievements and Challenges 245
Silvia R. Cianzio
Part 3: Carbohydrate Suppliers: Root Crops and Banana 275
Chapter 10: Breeding Potato as a Major Staple Crop 277
John E. Bradshaw
Chapter 11: Breeding of Sweetpotato 333
S.L. Tan, M. Nakatani, and K. Komaki
Chapter 12: Cassava Genetic Improvement 365
Hernán Ceballos, Martin Fregene, Juan Carlos Pérez,
Nelson Morante, and Fernando Calle
Chapter 13: Banana Breeding 393
Michael Pillay and Leena Tripathi
Index 429
Foreword
Humans are guests of green plants on this to bed hungry everyday. World population is
planet. Green plants are a source of food, likely to increase from 6.5 billion now to 8
clothing, fuel, construction materials, and billion in 2025 and 9 to 10 billion in 2050.
medicines. As ornamentals, they are aes- Moreover, as the standard of living improves,
thetically pleasing. Considering their impor- people start eating high-value foods, such as
tance for human survival and advancement meat, milk, and eggs. This leads to increased
of civilization, plants have been constantly demand for cereals as livestock feed. Consider-
improved since their domestication starting ing this scenario, food production must double
about 10,000 years ago. One has to compare during the next 30–40 years. To meet this chal-
modern varieties with their wild relatives to lenge, we need crop varieties with higher yield
get an idea of the improvements that have potential and greater yield stability.
been made. This conscious and unconscious The time-tested methods of classical
selection has resulted in numerous primitive plant breeding will be continuously
varieties, landraces, pure lines, and improved employed, but modern advances in cellular
varieties of our crop plants. Plant breeders and molecular biology and genomics are
have utilized these genetic resources to being increasingly utilized.
develop highly productive modern varieties This book provides excellent reviews of
adapted to diverse growing environments. present status of breeding food grain and
The advancements in plant-breeding tuber crops as well as bananas. These crops
technology during the last century, based provide 60–65 of the calories consumed by
primarily on Mendelian genetics, have been the world population. Thus, their importance
employed for developing the productive can hardly be overemphasized. The fi rst two
crop varieties for feeding ever-increasing chapters are an authoritative review of clas-
world population. The latest example of sical and modern techniques of crop improve-
power of plant breeding is the green-revolu- ment. Worldwide, more than 2.5 billion
tion varieties of rice and wheat, which led to people suffer from micronutrient defi cien-
major increases in food grain production. cies. During the past 10 years, importance of
During a 40-year period (1960–2000), world breeding food crops with dense micronutri-
population doubled from 3.0 to 6.0 billion ents, such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A, has
people, but food grain production increased been emphasized and a new term “biofortifi -
threefold. The abundant food availability is cation” has been coined. Therefore, the third
the basis of unparalleled prosperity and chapter on biofortifi cation is a useful addi-
political stability in Asia. tion. The fourth chapter deals with bioinfor-
In spite of these advances in food grain pro- matics for managing voluminous data. None
duction, 840 million people in the world still go of the books on plant breeding has chapters
vii
viii FOREWORD
on bioinformatics. Thus, this chapter is Gurdev S. Khush
another welcome addition. Former Principal Plant Breeder
I hope this volume will prove useful for International Rice Research Institute
students, teachers, and researchers working Philippines
on crop improvement. World Food Prize Laureate—1996
Preface
Population growth and food production are of them living in less developed countries.
inextricably linked, food being one of the In a speech on April 11, 2006 delivered to
very basic needs of humans. In his 1798 Biotechnology Industry Organization
publication “An Essay on the Principle of (www.bio.org), Chicago, Illinois, former
Population,”1 Thomas Robert Malthus U.S. President Bill Clinton eloquently high-
wrote, “. . . the power of population is indef- lighted this problem, “Keep in mind, half the
initely greater than the power in the earth to world’s people live on less than $2.00 a day;
produce subsistence for man.” The Green a billion people live on less than $1.00 a day;
Revolution of the 1960s/70s and the fact that a billion people go to bed hungry every
Malthus’ dire predictions of population out- night . . .”4
running food supply by the middle of the Remarkable progress in production and
19th century failed refl ects human ingenuity productivity has been achieved during the
to develop and continually enhance scien- past 50 years. Advances in agricultural tech-
tifi c tools to increase food production. In nology, brought about by the re-discovery
addition, population growth has been slowed and application of Mendel’s laws of hered-
down through education and governmental ity, discovery of the structure of DNA, and
policies. science-based agricultural research during
Current world population is about 6.6 the 20th century, were the underpinnings of
billion and increasing by the second, as indi- the progress.
cated by the population ticker at http://www. In addition to various national agricul-
irri.org/.2 The current population growth rate tural research institutes and universities,
of about 1.2% or 77 million annually is sub- international institutes have been at the fore-
stantially less than the 2% rate of the early front of solving the world food problem. The
1970s.3 According to the U.S. Census Consultative Group on International Agri-
Bureau3, world population is expected to cultural Research (CGIAR), which has 15
reach 9–10 billion by 2050. That food pro- centers around the world, has been charged
duction would need to be doubled in the next with the mission of achieving sustainable
30 years and tripled in the next 50 years to food security and reducing poverty in devel-
feed people is an enormous challenge facing oping countries. The CGIAR’s motto is
all involved in agriculture. “Nourishing the future through scientifi c
Poverty, hunger, food insecurity, and excellence.”5
malnutrition remain serious problems around Cereals have been and are expected to
the world. An estimated 840 million people, remain the most important calorie-providing
which is 13% of the world population, staple food in the world. Rice, wheat, and
remain chronically malnourished, with most maize are the leading cereals. Many CGIAR
ix
x PREFACE
research centers are devoted to reducing Chapter 1, “Crop Breeding Methodolo-
poverty and hunger in the world, and to gies: Classic and Modern,” discusses the
ensuring secure access to food in Third various traditional and modern (molecular
World countries. For example, the mission and genetic engineering) plant breeding
of the International Rice Research Institute methodologies. This chapter is not specifi c
(IRRI) in the Philippines—a CGIAR to any particular crop.
center—is “To reduce poverty and hunger, Chapter 2, “Genetic Enhancement of
improve the health of rice farmers and con- Polyploid Crops Using Tools of Classic
sumers and ensure that rice production is Cytogenetics and Modern Biotechnology,”
environmentally sustainable.”2 Similarly, is an authoritative review of polyploidy in
the mission of the International Maize and crops and of biotechnological/molecular
Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in genetic tools used in crop improvement.
Mexico is “To use knowledge and technol- Chapter 3, “Biofortifi cation: Breeding
ogy to increase food security, improve the Micronutrient-Dense Crops,” is authored
productivity and profi tability of farming by two HarvestPlus scientists. HarvestPlus
systems and sustain natural resources.”6 is an international, interdisciplinary research
Other CGIAR centers also have similar program, whose mission is to reduce micro-
missions. nutrient malnutrition by developing nutri-
The rapid pace at which the world popu- ent-dense staple foods through breeding.
lation continues to increase dictates the con- Chapter 4 is focused on bioinformatics
tinuing need to produce greater quantities of and plant genomics for staple crops improve-
staple crops, such as rice, wheat, maize, ment. Bioinformatics—a fi eld yet to
potato, sweetpotato, cassava, soybean, mature—plays an essential role in the
barley, and banana to feed the people of the sequencing and characterization of genomes
world. This publication, Breeding Major as well as in trait analysis and optimization
Food Staples, covers improving yields and of breeding strategies.
quality of these crops through breeding, bio- Chapter 5, “Breeding Spring Bread Wheat
fortifi cation, and the use of molecular genetic for Irrigated and Rainfed Production Systems
tools, such as transformation (gene transfer), of the Developing World,” provides detailed
genome mapping, and bioinformatics. breeding strategies to develop disease-
Breeding Major Food Staples brings together resistant wheat and applications of molecu-
the state-of-the-art technical information lar markers in wheat breeding.
through prominent experts in plant genetics Chapter 6, “Rice Breeding for Sustain-
and breeding, as well as bioinformatics. The able Production,” highlights, among other
book is divided into three sections: (a) issues, the impact of rice breeding in the
general topics, which apply to all crops; (b) world, wide hybridization, use of molecular
cereal crops; and (c) calorie- or carbohydrate- markers in rice breeding, and genetic trans-
supplying root and tuber crops and bananas. formation and transgenics.
There are two unique chapters in the book Chapter 7, “Barley Breeding for Sustain-
(section 1) that are generally not found in able Production,” provides background infor-
plant breeding textbooks: Biofortifi cation mation on the barley gene pool, types of
and bioinformatics. Biofortifi cation refers to barley, and diseases and pests of barley. It
the process of breeding food crops that are highlights important issues, such as doubled-
rich in bioavailable micronutrients, such haploid production, breeding for stresses, par-
as Fe, Zn, and vitamin A.7 Bioinformatics ticipatory breeding, and molecular breeding.
encompasses the fi elds of biology, computer Chapter 8, “Corn Breeding in the Twenty-
science, and information technology.8 fi rst Century,” traces the evolution of corn