Fruit Breeding

Fruit Breeding is the eighth volume in the Handbook of Plant Breeding series. Like the other volumes in the series, this volume presents information on the latest scientific information in applied plant breeding using the current advances in the field, from an efficient use of genetic resources to the impact of biotechnology in plant breeding. The majority of the volume showcases individual crops, complemented by sections dealing with important aspects of fruit breeding as trends, marketing and protection of new varieties, health benefits of fruits and new crops in the horizon. The book also features contributions from outstanding scientists for each crop species. Maria Luisa Badenes Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Valencia, Spain David Byrne Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

This book fully integrates the conventional and biotechnological approaches to fruit crop breeding. Individual chapters are written on a wide variety of species covering all the major fruit crops in one volume. For each crop, there is a discussion of their taxonomy and evolution, history of improvement, crossing techniques, evaluation methods, and heritability of major traits and germplasm resources. Also discussed are the most recent advances in genetic mapping and QTL (quantitative trait loci) analysis, marker assisted breeding, gene cloning, gene expression analysis, regeneration and transformation. Patenting and licensing issues are also covered.

Fruit Breeding is an art and science demanding prolonged time, space and intrinsic qualities. Seed propagation leads to heterogeneity and asexual propagation of elite clones’ leads to newer and novel types. There are temperate, sub-tropical and tropical fruits differing in photo and thermo periodic requirements. There are also parthenocarpic and apomictic fruit trees demanding special breeding methods for improvement. Aroma, taste and flavor are unique to fruits unlike other horticultural crops like vegetables, spices, plantation crops and tubers. The book unravels history of fruit breeding, biodiversity, challenges approaches and prospects, apomixes, mutation breeding, role of insects in fruit production, molecular markers, statistical techniques, rootstock breeding, breeding of mango, citrus, banana, papaya, guava, sapota, jackfruit, sugarapple/sweetsop Indian jujube and jamun. The 20 s in the book authored by 15 scientists from six Research Institutes and Universities expose readers to a new world of fruit breeding, very seldom ventured by breeders.

Germplasm resource and exploration, maintenance and preservation. Breeding techniques: pollen and seed management. Hybridization and handling seedling populations. Mutation breeding, ploidy manipulations, tissue culture and embryo culture selection: breeding strategy, response to selection and somatic selectoin and chimeras. Breeding for specific objetives: disease resistance, insect, mite and nematode resistance, resistance to environmental stress, adaptation to specific climatic and soil environments, quality, rootstocks, mecanized harvest and fruitfulness and productivity. Testing and release: testing and cultivar evaluation, cultivar release and protection, certification and supporting phytopathology and data collection, analysis and retrieval.

This book is the second volume of a three volume reference set that will provide comprehensive information on breeding commercial horticultural crops. In a systematic way, it deals with the history and commercial importance of each fruit, the origin and early development of cultivation, regional characteristics, breeding objectives, fruit characteristics such as color, shape and disease resistance. Volume II deals with, for example, citrus fruits, avocados, and kiwifruits.

Plant breeding has undergone a period of very rapid and significant development in recent years and the area of fruit breeding is no exception. This book provides a balanced, up-to-date and comprehensive account of the developments in the field of breeding tropical and subtropical fruits. It offers not only the theoretical and applied aspects of breedings fruits but also provides an authoritative manual of the conventional and new techniques used for increasing efficiency of crop improvement programmes. In specific chapters the book deals with crop taxonomy, genetic resources, floral biology, breeding objectives, inheritance patterns and information on new improved cultivars/hybrids.

The pressure of an ever-increasing population and periodic famine due to unexpected flood and drought has forced and awakened the horticultural scientist, to evolve new plant types for diversified use. Besides, some limitations in the improvement of fruit crop such as long juvenile phase, high heterozygosity, limited information on inheritance pattern, excessive fruit drop, parthenocarpy and lesser number of seeds per fruit, hybridization, selection, mutation and other tools of fruit breeding have resulted in the development of a number of varieties in mango, grape, papaya, banana and guava for various purposes. The present 2nd fully revised and enlarged edition of the much awaited book "Fruit Breeding Approaches and Achievements" is ventured with the objective to provide latest possible information on basic approaches in fruit breeding, breeding for biotic stresses resistance, use of plant growth regulators in fruit improvement, improvement of important fruit crops such as mango, banana, papaya, grape, guava, citrus, ber, aonla, pomegranate, date palm, litchi, coconut, cashewnut, pineapple, temperate and underutilized fruits in a broad spectrum.