Wheat improvement: Historical perspective and mutational approach—a review
Authors: Wani, M.R., Sheikh, S.A., Kozgar, M.I. and Ahmad, P.
Pages: 297-322
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-8824-8_12
Abstract:Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) occupies a prominent position among the cereal crops and supplements dietary requirement of nearly one-third of the world’s population. The importance of wheat can be gauged by the fact that the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has chosen a wheat spike in its symbol with the description “Let there be bread.” In the present scenario, the likings for wheat-based food products have increased, thus widening the scope for industrial production and consequently providing the livelihood to millions of people world over directly or indirectly. In India, the All India Coordinated Wheat Improvement Project established in 1965 by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and later raised to the status of Directorate of Wheat Research is largely involved with the coordination of wheat research in the country. More than 300 varieties of wheat suitable for different agronomical conditions of the country have been released by the organization. Though, at present, India is self-sufficient in wheat production, but the emerging challenges of population explosion, environmental stresses, new pathogenic races, decreased arable lands, depleting water resources, and degraded soils make it imperative to consistently aim at the development of efficient and promising varieties so that the food security in the country can be ensured. It is estimated that, by 2030, India will require some 100 million tonnes of wheat to satisfactorily feed its population. Therefore, there is a pressing need to enhance wheat productivity so as to keep up the pace with the mounting demand and to maintain price stability by making it physically available and economically accessible. The key objectives of wheat breeding are yield enhancement, good nutritional quality, biotic and/or abiotic stress tolerance, etc. Presently, conventional methods of wheat breeding are not enough to make any considerable breakthrough to cope with the world’s rising demand, with the exhausted genetic variability among the existing genotypes being the major constraint in the progression of these varieties and also making them susceptible to various abiotic and biotic stresses. In this scenario, the possibility offered by experimental mutagenesis to induce new genetic variability is of extreme interest, as it has played an enormous role in increasing the world food security by contributing significantly in the improvement of wheat crop production. The present chapter enfolds various historical aspects in addition to contemporary knowledge of wheat crop improvement programs through induced mutagenesis.
Source: Scopus