2. Objectives of Plant Breeding
• Plant Breeding aims to improve the characteristics of plant so that they
become more desirable agronomically and economically.
• Thus, the chief objective of plant breeding is to develop such improved
varieties of crop plants that will be commercially successful.
• Generally, “a successful variety is one with total balance of traits that
makes it more profitable for growers than any other one they might
choose.
• This is why breeders are wary about emphasizing one trait to the
exclusion of others’’.(Lewis and Christiansen,1982).
• However, improvement in some specific traits of certain crops may
become a priority objective for various agronomic, economic, etc.
reasons.
• Therefore, specific objectives would very greatly depending on the
crop under consideration.
• Some of the main objectives of plant breeding may be summarised as
follows.
3. • Higher Yields
• Improved Quality
• Disease and Insect Resistance
• Change in Maturity Duration
• Agronomic Characteristics...
and so on
4. Chilli (Capsicum annuum) (2n=24)
• Origin: Tropical America
• Distribution: Mainly cultivated in Brazil, Mexico, Spain South and
Central America China and India. In India, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and H.P etc.
• Five major cultivated species in the Genus Capsicum
1. Capsicum annuum
2. C. frutescens
3. C. chinense
4. C. pendulum
5. C. Pubescens.
Varieties
Andhra jyothi, Pusa jwala, G1, K1, Co1, Sindhu, etc.
5.
6. • Classification of chilli type based on fruit characters
1. C. annuum var acuminatum (Nepal pepper): Fruits long thin,
pendulous and pungent
2. C. annum var longum: Long chilli the fruit are long and stout with
a very broad base
3. C. annuum var grossum: Big chilli sweet pepper, bell pepper,
fruits large and bell shaped turn, bright red on ripening, little
pungent, used as vegetable
4. C. annuum var ceraciferma: very small chilli fruits, and round,
slightly pungent.
5. C. fruitiscens var minima: Bird pepper with white and long
pedicel, fruits small and highly pungent e.g., Golconda Mirapa,
Seema mirapa
7. Breeding objectives:
1. Earliness
2. Desirable fruit shape and size (obovate and round fruit in bell
pepper and long fruits in chilli)
3. Superior fruit quality (pleasing flavour, high sugar / acid ratio,
high pigment content and vitamin C in bell pepper and high
capsaicin.
4. Resistance is to diseases (fruit rot, Cercospora leaf spot,
powdery mildew, bacterial leaf spot, phytophthra root rot, root
knot, common TMV
5. Resistance to insects (thrips, mite, aphid, fruit borer)
6. Resistance or tolerance to abiotic stress (heat, water stress,
salinity etc).
8. Brinjal (Solanum melongena) (2n=24)
Brinjal is an important commercial vegetable crop grown in India.
Origin: Indo-Burma
Distribution: India, Japan, Indonesia, China, Bulgaria, Italy,
France, USA and African countrie s. In India all the states grow
brinjal
Wild species:
Solanum torvum
S. nigrum
S. indicum
S. mamosum
9.
10. Breeding objectives:
1. High yield
2. Earliness
3. Fruit shape, size and colour as per consumer’s preference
4. Low proportion of seed
5. Soft flesh
6. Lower Olanine content
7. Upright study plant free from lodging.
8. Resistance to diseases like bacterial wilt, blights.
9. Resistance to insects like shoot and fruit borer, jassids etc
Varieties:
Pusa purple long
Pusa kranti
Arka navneet
11. OKRA Ladys (Abelmoschus esculentus)
(2n=130)
• Okra is a common vegetable crop grown in warmer climate,
• Origin: India
• Distribution: Asia, Europe, Africa and United States and Brazil.
In India it is grown in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana and Punjab.
Species of Abelmeschus
• Abelmoschus angulosus
• A. crinitus
• A. ficulneus
12.
13. Breeding objectives:
1. High pod yield
2. Dark green, tender, thin, medium long smooth with 4-5 ridged pods
3. Pods free from conspicuous hairs
4. Early and prolonged harvest
5. Short plant with more number of nodes, short internodes
6. Optimum seed setting ability
7. Pods suitable for processing industry and export market.
8. Resistance to diseases (yellow vein mosaic virus, (YVMV) Fusarium wilt)
9. Resistance to insects (fruit and shoot borer, jassids and white fly)
10. Tolerance to Abiotic stresses.
Varieties: Pusa makhmali, Pusa swani, Co-1 etc.