Commercial Status of Plant Breeding in India

Plant breeding has the potential to improve quality of life for millions of people, and to harmoniously link agriculture, societies and ecosystems. Global efforts have been made to improve awareness and create a better and brighter future for plant breeding worldwide. Though substantial international research funding is available, and tremendous efforts have been made to achieve food security and sustainability in agriculture, their success can only be ensured when they are complemented by counterparts at the national level.  India is ideally poised to reap the benefits of plant breeding by integrating various parameters like adaptation, uncertainty, vulnerability and resilience into agriculture research strategies. Priorities include making agriculture more appealing to young talents, formulating farmer-friendly policies, combining advanced technologies with conventional plant breeding practices, and building the competencies needed to address emerging challenges in agriculture.  This book provides an essential overview of modern plant breeding, and demonstrates how education, entrepreneurship training and professional approaches can help transform the image of agriculture from a poor and unattractive domain into a lucrative and business-oriented one. In addition, it presents strategies to help achieve sustainable, accessible and affordable outcomes with breeding programs. The book’s primary goal is to encourage policymakers, academics, private institutions and non-profit organizations to combine their efforts in order to achieve a major transition in plant breeding activities in Asia. Accordingly, it highlights the importance of partnerships and collaborations for making breeding programs more comprehensive and meaningful.