Genes, Crops and the Environment

The productivity of agricultural systems is the result of human alteration of originally wild organisms over millennia. The availability of germplasm, particularly from wild relatives of crop plants, is vitally important in the development of new and improved crops for both agriculture and horticulture. The handling of these genetic resources for both immediate and future human benefits has resulted in the decades of interdisciplinary scientific research described in this book. The applications of this work and the associated operational programmes in all parts of the world are discussed in the light of their impact on the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystem rehabilitation and the future health of our planet.

List of contents

1. Plant genetic resources - what they are and why they are needed; 2. What needs to be collected and how is it maintained?; 3. A global strategy for safe storage; 4. Access to the resource - core collections and databases; 5. Have we all that we need for the future?; 6. Have genetic resources already been of value?; 7. When there are no seeds; 8. Genes and politics; 9. A glimpse from 2050; Index.

Summary

This book focuses on the genetic resources of plants which form part of the world's biological diversity. This diversity is diminishing as the result of human activity and the book describes the need for the management of these resources to sustain the many and varied human uses of plants.

Product details

• Authors: J. H. W. Holden, John Holden, James Peacock, Peacock James, Trevor Williams
• Publisher: Cambridge Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 03.06.1993
• EAN: 9780521431378
• ISBN: 978-0-521-43137-8
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 14 mm
• Weight: 440 g
• Illustrations: 9 b/w illus. 8 tables, Zeichnungen, nicht spezifiziert, Tabellen, nicht spezifiziert
• Subjects: Guides > Nature; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Ecology; Non-fiction book > Nature, technology > Natural science; SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Botany, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics, Plant Physiology, Genetics (non-medical), Botany and plant sciences