GENOMIC ASSISTED CROP BREEDING APPROACHES FOR DESIGNING FUTURE CROPS TO COMBAT FOOD PRODUCTION CHALLENGES
Muhammad Adeeb Babar, MS NAWAZ, AAA SHAHANI, MN KHALID, A LATIF, Kainat Kanwal, Muhammad Umar Ijaz, Zunaira Maqsood, I AMJAD, A KHAN, NH KHAN, Shadab Shaukat
Abstract
Improvement of crop species has been a fundamental goal of mankind since the dawn of agriculture. The key to increasing agricultural productivity and improving other attributes has been plant breeding. The foundations of conventional breeding are the utilization of diversity, which occurs naturally in the form of land races and wild relatives, and the development of diverse selection and breeding techniques. Selection, which was the first strategy identified and is currently utilized by the majority of breeding programs, is the most fundamental aspect of plant breeding. There is a need to boost global food production in order to meet the rising demand of a growing population as a result of a growing human population and a changing environment, which have both heightened concerns about global food security. Conventional breeding methods are inadequate to supply this rising need. In the past few decades, numerous advancements in genetic engineering and molecular biology have led to the emergence of novel approaches that rely on phenotypic characterization. Now, the wide availability of molecular markers has facilitated the identification of variation sources and selection. Specifically, genomics played a crucial part in the revolution of plant breeding. Because genomics enabled the extended study of genotype and its relationship to phenotype for multigenic characteristics, allowing for a greater understanding of genotype and phenotype. In this overview, we will address conventional breeding methods and contemporary genomics techniques, and their function in crop improvement.