Plant Genetic Engineering (Improvement of Food Crops)

The world population is expected to increase from about 6.5 billion at present to billion at present to 10 billion by 2050. Much of this in crease will be in developing countries. The burgeoning population, degradation of environment and depletion of natural resources have put a tougher challenge before man of food and nutrition security for all. Recent advances in in-vitro regeneration and new genetic technologies during the past two decades have shown that they can help to improve the crops in more precise and faster ways as compared to traditional Mendelian methods. The transgenic crops based on novel genetic combinations created by moving genes across sexual barriers are now becoming available and some of them are moving to market for the end users. This volume contains 14 chapters on current status, state of art, applications and limitations of gene technology to increase the productivity and quality of major food crops e.g. rice, wheat, maize, oat, barley, pearl millet, sorghum, legumes, Brassica rapa, Indian mustard and cassava to meet the increasing demand for food in the future. Each chapter in this volume is prepared by distinguished scientists who have made significant contributions to the respective crops.