Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Using this book
- Nomenclature and terminology
- Abbreviations and glossary
- Introduction
- Part I The science of plant breeding
- Part II The societal context of plant breeding
- 4 Rise of the public sector and the US pioneers
- 5 Public sector breeding in the UK
- 6 Breeding goes global: the Green Revolution and beyond
- Part III Turmoil and transition: the legacy of the 1980s
- Part IV The agbiotech paradigm
- Part V Increasing global crop production: the new challenges
- Part VI Plant breeding in the twenty-first century
- Notes
- References
- Index
6 - Breeding goes global: the Green Revolution and beyond
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Using this book
- Nomenclature and terminology
- Abbreviations and glossary
- Introduction
- Part I The science of plant breeding
- Part II The societal context of plant breeding
- 4 Rise of the public sector and the US pioneers
- 5 Public sector breeding in the UK
- 6 Breeding goes global: the Green Revolution and beyond
- Part III Turmoil and transition: the legacy of the 1980s
- Part IV The agbiotech paradigm
- Part V Increasing global crop production: the new challenges
- Part VI Plant breeding in the twenty-first century
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty … of a rich country inhabited by starving people. The future belongs to science and to those who make friends with science
Jawaharlal Nehru (1961) PNIS IndiaIntroduction
By the mid-1940s, agricultural research and breeding centres had already been operating successfully for more than half a century in most industrialised countries. The benefits of this public sector led approach were universally obvious. Yields of each of the major commercial crops increased to the extent that food surpluses were generated in many of the main producer countries. Even tiny Britain, with its relative dearth of useful arable land, and a large, rapidly growing, urban/industrial population, was able to produce over three quarters of its food requirements. This achievement was largely thanks to a combination of assiduous attention to quality breeding and the introduction of intensive farming practices. By this time, the yield benefits arising from farming mechanisation (e.g. tractors and harvesters), that had been so prominent in the 1920s and 1930s, were being outstripped by gains conferred by biological improvements, i.e. from plant breeding. By harnessing plant genetics, breeders could also design crops that were specifically suited to the new high-input, fertiliser/pesticide regimes, and were also adapted to mechanised cultivation and harvesting. Improved breeding practices also extended further the prospects for even greater gains in yield and productivity.
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- Plant Breeding and BiotechnologySocietal Context and the Future of Agriculture, pp. 83 - 98Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007