How Could the Use of Crop Wild Relatives in Breeding Increase the Adaptation of Crops to Marginal Environments?

ABSTRACT: Alongside the use of fertilizer and chemical control of weeds, pests, and diseases modern breeding has been very successful in generating cultivars that have increased agricultural production several fold in favorable environments. These typically homogeneous cultivars (either homozygous inbreds or hybrids derived from inbred parents) are bred under optimal field conditions and perform well when there is sufficient water and nutrients. However, such optimal conditions are rare globally; indeed, a large proportion of arable land could be considered marginal for agricultural production. Marginal agricultural land typically has poor fertility and/or shallow soil depth, is subject to soil erosion, and often occurs in semi-arid or saline environments. Moreover, these marginal environments are e

SUBMITTER: Renzi JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9243378 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature