(a) State six aims of crop improvement. (b) Explain briefly 'introduction' as a method of crop improvement.

Answer Details

(a) Six aims of crop improvement

1. To increase crop yield.
2. To improve resistance to pests and diseases.
3. To improve the quality and nutritional value of produce.
4. To produce early-maturing varieties.
5. To develop varieties adapted to particular environments (drought or flood tolerance).
6. To produce varieties suited to mechanization and resistant to lodging/shattering.

(b) Introduction as a method of crop improvement

Introduction is the method of crop improvement in which crop varieties or their germplasm are brought in from a region or country where they already exist to a new area where they were not previously grown. The introduced material is tested for adaptation to the new environment, and if it performs well it may be released for direct cultivation or used as parent material in further breeding work.