Developments in breeding vegetables

Publication date: 09/09/2019
Extent: 38 pages

Contributions by: Laura A. Chatham and John A. Juvik, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA

Chapter synopsis: Breeding for quality and yield in vegetable crops is constrained by consumer preferences and expectations. Vegetable crops are grown primarily for human consumption and are therefore held to higher standards of quality than crops grown for animal feed or fuel. Measures of quality are complex and include taste and flavour, nutritional value, appearance and shelf life. Increasing yields to meet the demands of a growing population is vital. The chapter explores new techniques in vegetable breeding, offering an overview of the breeding process and examining the process of streamlining breeding with gene discovery. The chapter looks at expediting selections to shorten breeding cycles and circumventing introgression with genome editing and engineering, offering two detailed case studies based on tomatoes and Brassica oleracea vegetables.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2019.0045.05