ABSTRACT
Rapidly growing human population, decreasing arable land, combined with environmental degradation are causes of concern to agriculturists in sustaining agriculture production and loss of genetic biodiversity. Plant breeders are under continuous pressure for finding new ways for sustainable agriculture by using natural and induced genetic diversity, which are essential to crop improvement. (Jain 2002a) Plant breeders have successfully recombined the desired genes from cultivated crop germplasm and related species by sexual hybridization, and have also been able to develop new cultivars with desirable traits such as high yield, disease, insect and pests, and drought resistance. No further scope of expanding arable land is foreseen. Moreover, rapid industrialization is mounting a heavy toll on the environment, including atmospheric ozone layer depletion, acid rain, erratic weather conditions, insect and pests, diseases, global warming and increase of ultra-violet (UV-B) radiation
level. The adverse environmental impact will gradually lead to water shortage and reduction in crop production. Thereby, plant breeders need to adopt both conventional and new technologies such as induced mutations, plant tissue culture, and recombinant DNA for sustainable food production in order to feed the world (Jain 2002a).
