Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Using this book -- Nomenclature and terminology -- Measurements and dates -- Initials and acronyms -- Industrial and developing countries -- Abbreviations and glossary -- Introduction -- Part I The science of plant breeding -- 1 Origins of plant breeding -- Introduction - the development of agriculture -- Non-intentional selection -- Variation and selection in breeding -- Pre-scientific empirical breeding -- Scientific breeding -- Beginnings of practical scientific breeding -- Hybrids -- Mutations -- Quantitative genetics -- 2 Creating new genetic variation -- Introduction -- Hybrid crops -- Maize and other intraspecific hybrids -- Intergenic hybrids - triticale, a new manmade crop species -- Induced mutagenesis -- Radiation and chemical mutagenesis -- Somaclonal mutagenesis -- Mutagenesis - an acceptable technology for genetic manipulation? -- Wide crossing -- Wide crosses in rice -- Wide crosses in brassicas -- 3 Modern high-tech breeding -- Introduction -- Tissue culture technologies -- Chromosome doubling -- Mass propagation -- Somatic hybridisation -- Haploids and doubled haploids -- Sterile plant varieties -- Transgenesis -- Comparison with other technologies for variation enhancement -- Screening and selection -- Selecting non-visible traits -- DNA marker-assisted selection (MAS) -- New technologies for high-tech breeding -- Part II The societal context of plant breeding -- 4 Rise of the public sector and the US pioneers -- Introduction -- New technologies, old problems -- Agricultural research as a public good -- Emergence of public sector research in the USA -- Morrill and the land grant institutions -- The USDA and its botanisers -- Extension services -- 5 Public sector breeding in the UK -- Introduction.

The UK - a laissez-faire approach -- Rothamsted -- John Innes Centre -- Welsh Plant Breeding Station -- Cambridge Plant Breeding Institute -- Order versus chaos or control versus initiative? -- 6 Breeding goes global: the Green Revolution and beyond -- Introduction -- US philanthropy exported -- CIMMYT and wheat in Mexico -- IRRI and rice in the Philippines -- National research organisations -- The Green Revolution -- Wheat -- Rice -- Global impact -- The emergence of CGIAR in the 1970s -- Part III Turmoil and transition: the legacy of the 1980s -- 7 Resurgence of the private sector -- Introduction -- A phoenix reborn -- Favourable regulatory environments -- Patents and breeders' rights -- The problem of broad claims -- Startups and multinationals -- 8 Emergence of a new crop improvement paradigm -- Introduction -- Obsolescence and impoverishment -- Effects on breeding programmes -- Genetic erosion -- Adapting crops to commercial agronomy -- A technology focus based on short-term profitability rather than long-term utility -- The private sector triumphant? -- 9 Decline of the public sector -- Introduction -- Privatisation, integration and globalisation -- The Plant Breeding Institute -- The Agricultural Development and Advisory Service -- Aftermath of the UK privatisations -- 10 Reaping the consequences -- Introduction - privatisation exported -- The Anglosphere -- Europe -- Developing countries -- Academisation of public research -- Academisation and research assessments -- Dangerous liaisons - partnerships with the private sector -- The penny drops -- Part IV The agbiotech paradigm -- 11 Agbiotech: genes and dreams -- Introduction -- The artificial dichotomy of GM and non-GM -- Origins of a false premise -- Spot the difference? -- Gene transfer within and between plant genomes -- Genetic manipulation or manipulation of genomes?.

We are all genetic manipulators -- Agbiotech today - the worst of all possible worlds? -- A headless chicken? -- Rise and fall of the 'life-sciences' biotech business model -- Domination by the 'big four' -- 12 The future of transgenic crops I: improving the technology -- Introduction -- Obsolete technologies? -- Selectable markers -- Transgene insertion -- Biological confinement -- Other technologies -- Management, segregation and other challenges -- 13 The future of transgenic crops II: improving the products -- Introduction Input traits -- Input traits -- Biotic stress tolerance -- Abiotic stress tolerance -- Output traits -- Enhanced vitamins -- Biofortification with essential minerals -- Improved oils -- Biopharming - the killer app? -- The vision -- Flawed strategies -- Improved strategies -- Part V Increasing global crop production: the new challenges -- 14 Feeding the world - fallacies and realities -- Introduction -- Population, economic growth and food production -- Targeting disadvantaged regions -- Economic growth and sustainability -- Expanding the area of crop cultivation -- Reclaiming abandoned and set-aside land -- South America -- 15 The roles of management, subsidies and breeding in crop improvement -- Introduction -- Improved management -- Case study I: Malaysian oil palm -- Case study II: Ukraine and Vietnam -- Agricultural overproduction and subsidies -- Subsidies and tariffs stifle development -- Improved crop breeding -- What is the role of transgenic crops? -- Part VI Plant breeding in the twenty-first century -- 16 The future of international plant breeding -- Introduction -- Whither CGIAR? -- National research centres -- Participatory plant breeding -- A decade of progress -- Partnerships with farmers -- Projects in India -- Seed banks and germplasm conservation -- National and regional seed banks.

Vulnerability of international seed banks -- UC Davis and the Iranian National Seed Bank -- ICARDA and the Iraqi National Seed Bank -- WARDA in Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia -- Seed banks and reconstruction -- The tsunami of 2004 -- Rebuilding agriculture across the world -- The future of gene banks -- International patrimony or restricted property? -- A challenge from the USA -- A way forward? -- 17 Rebalancing our approach to crop improvement -- Introduction -- Revitalising the public sector -- The seductive allure of basic research -- Rebalancing plant science research -- Rebalancing the public debate on agriculture -- Why is the UK so anti-GM? -- The UK farm-scale evaluations -- Developing a sense of perspective -- 18 Where do we go from here? -- Introduction -- Empowering and recruiting the private sector -- Diversifying and outsourcing -- A new market-based public sector paradigm -- Solving the IPR problem -- Open access technologies in plant breeding -- Re-entering the marketplace -- Domesticating new crops - an alternative to transgenesis -- Innovative applied R&D - the USA leads (again) -- 19 Conclusions and recommendations -- Introduction -- Perspectives from the USA -- Late twenty-first century agriculture -- Recommendations -- Public sector -- Education and career structures -- Applied research -- Outsourcing -- Seed banks -- Participatory plant breeding -- New crops -- Open access technologies -- Private sector -- Innovation -- Diversification -- Outsourcing -- Governments and judiciaries -- Patents and breeders' rights -- Deregulation of crop production -- Subsidies/tariffs -- Notes -- References -- Index.