| The transition from hunting and gathering to farming happened about 10,000 years ago, independently and diffusely in several places in the world. Plant breeders were responsible for genetic progress in a number of crop species. It included hybrids, the introgression of wild species genes and also the Green Revolution, which started in the 1960's with the cereals. The varieties developed by breeding, along with the use of new crop technology (fertilization, soil tillage, etc.) changed the status of some countries from importers to exporters of food. In the turn of the millennium,, plant breeding, faces new challenges in a globalized world, but it has new tools to deal with them. Notwithstanding the present contributions of plant breeding and crop... |
