A new book on plant breeding in organic agriculture has been published this month by Wiley-Blackwell. The book, edited by two pioneers in the area, Professor Edith Lammerts van Bueren and Professor Jim Myers, provides readers with a thorough review of the principles of organic crop breeding and the latest efforts by crop breeders and geneticists to develop improved varieties for organic production. Written by a team of more than fifty scientists across the world, the book opens with chapters focusing on specific valuable traits for organic agriculture as well as the impacts that improved breeding efforts can have on organic production. The second part of the book is a series of crop specific case studies from around the world, detailing breeding efforts in various crops including vegetables, cereals, potato, and grain legumes.
Dr Thomas Döring and Professor Martin Wolfe, who lead ORC’s plant breeding programme, have contributed a chapter on the relationships between pest and disease management and organic crop breeding. Together with co-authors Dr Marco Pautasso and Professor Maria Finckh, they highlight the need to integrate increased genetic diversity into pest and disease management and to consider the dynamic and unpredictable nature of our constantly evolving agricultural systems. Key areas for organic breeding efforts are determined, such as pests and diseases of perennial plants, and seed-borne diseases.
Citation: E.T. Lammerts van Bueren & J.R. Myers (Eds), 2012. Organic Crop Breeding. Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, NY, USA. ISBN: 978-0-470-95858-2
Chapter 3: Döring TF, Pautasso M, Finckh MR, Wolfe MS. 2012. Pest and disease management in organic farming: implications and inspirations for plant breeding.
To order a copy, go to: www.wiley.com/buy/978-0-470-95858-2.
