Biotechnology

Plant and Agriculture Biotechnology

Biotechnology has been practiced for a long time, as people have sought to improve agriculturally important organisms by selection and breeding. An example of traditional agricultural biotechnology is the development of disease-resistant wheat varieties by cross-breeding different wheat types until the desired disease resistance was present in a resulting new variety. Genetic engineering technologies can help to improve health conditions in less developed countries. Genetic engineering can result in improved keeping properties to make transport of fresh produce easier, giving consumers access to nutritionally valuable whole foods and preventing decay, damage, and loss of nutrients. Benefits of Agriculture Biotechnology include Increased crop productivity, Enhanced crop protection, Improvements in food processing, Improved nutritional value, Environmental benefits, Better flavor, Fresher produce.  Biotechnology is defined as a set of tools that uses living organisms (or parts of organisms) to make or modify a product, improve plants, trees or animals, or develop microorganisms for specific uses. Agricultural biotechnology is the term used in crop and livestock improvement through biotechnology tools. This monograph will focus only on agricultural crop biotechnology. Biotechnology encompasses a number of tools and elements of conventional breeding techniques, plant physiology etc.,.