This chapter focuses on the role of seeds in agriculture and cultivar development, early development of crop domestication, cultivar nomenclature and importance of the subspecies. The role of plant breeders in cultivar development, formulation of breeding policy and its implementation,...

This chapter examines: the factors influencing private and public sector investment in plant breeding in industrial countries; the levels of investment in plant breeding and on-farm varietal use; the forces driving the privatization of plant breeding in industrial countries; the future roles for...

This chapter questions the continued need for public plant breeding programmes in developing countries and discusses their future role. The following factors driving the changes taking place in the plant breeding industry are identified: the commercialization of agriculture; the privatization of...