Objectives of Plant Breeding

Plant breeding programmes are designed around a consistent set of goals: increasing the yield, vigour and fertility of the crop; improving its tolerance to environmental stress such as salinity, temperature extremes and drought; preventing the premature dropping of buds and fruit; improving synchronous (uniform) maturity so a crop can be harvested efficiently in one pass; developing resistance to pathogens and pests; and, where useful, developing photosensitive and thermosensitive varieties whose flowering can be timed to day-length or temperature cues. Taken together, these objectives aim to make a …