Basics of Plant breeding and Seed Technology

Book excerpt: All Indian Agricultural Universities provide courses in plant breeding and seed technologies at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also provided at the graduate level in biology and the postgraduate level in botany in all conventional universities. Numerous books have been written on the subject, many of them by authors from other countries. However, no single source covers the curriculum entirely. In addition, foreign-authored texts rarely incorporate examples from India, and the bulk of Indian students cannot pay their high costs. The primary objective of the current publication, "Fundamentals of Plant Breeding and Seed Technology," was to assist Indian students. This book would be beneficial to the students, teachers, emerging scientists, and researchers from both an individual and institutional perspective. The book has all the fundamental concepts of the chosen subject covered. For the benefit of Indian students, each unit is written in simple, understandable language. For everyone studying plant breeding and seed technology, as well as teachers and researchers in the subject, this book will be helpful. Additionally, it will be beneficial for people taking competitive exams and tests for research fellowships. These are the chapters that are included: 1. An Introduction to Plant Breeding, Its Scope and Importance; 2. Conventional Plant Breeding Techniques, Methods, and Practices; 3. Heterosis and hybrid vigor; 4. Mutation Breeding; 5. Polyploidy; 6. Breeding for Resistance or Tolerance; 7. Introduction of Seed Technology; 8. Seed Certification; 9. Seed Processing; 10. Seed sampling; 11. Physical purity analysis 12. Seed Storage; 13. Seed Testing, and 14. Seed marketing.