Agriculture depends on improved cultivars, and cultivars are
developed through proper plant breeding. Unfortunately, applied
plant breeding programs that are focused on cereal commodity crops
are under serious erosion because of lack of funding. This loss of
public support affects breeding continuity, objectivity, and,
perhaps equally important, the training of future plant breeders
and the utilization and improvement of plant genetic resources
currently available. Breeding programs should focus not only on
short-term research goals but also on long-term genetic improvement
of germplasm. The research products of breeding programs are
important not only for food security but also for
commodity-oriented public and private programs, especially in the
fringes of crop production. Breeding strategies used for long-term
selection are often neglected but the reality is that long-term
research is needed for the success of short-term products. An
excellent example is that genetically broad-based public germplasm
has significantly been utilized and recycled by industry, producing
billions of dollars for industry and farmers before intellectual
property rights were available. Successful examples of breeding
continuity have served the sustainable cereal crop production that
we currently have. The fact that farmers rely on public and private
breeding institutions for solving long-term challenges should
influence policy makers to reverse this trend of reduced funding.
Joint cooperation between industry and public institutions would be
a good example to follow. The objective of this volume is to
increase the utilization of useful genetic resources and increase
awareness of the relative value and impact of plant breeding and
biotechnology. That should lead to a more sustainable crop
production and ultimately food security. Applied plant breeding
will continue to be the foundation to which molecular markers are
applied. Focusing useful molecular techniques on the right traits
will build a strong linkage between genomics and plant breeding and
lead to new and better cultivars. Therefore, more than ever there
is a need for better communication and cooperation among scientists
in the plant breeding and biotechnology areas. We have an
opportunity to greatly enhance agricultural production by applying
the results of this research to meet the growing demands for food
security and environmental conservation. Ensuring strong applied
plant breeding programs with successful application of molecular
markers will be essential in ensuring such sustainable use of plant
genetic resources.
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