ABSTRACT
Varieties are now selected for cultivation according to a well-organized procedure; however, even before humans started experimenting with improving native plant populations, natural selection played its role in the evolution of different crop species. During prehistoric times, selection occurred in nature and man chose desirable crops or plants. Artificial selection became a fundamental crop improvement process when crops were first domesticated for agriculture. Humans then started modifying within individual crop populations, guided by their own needs. The selection procedures adopted during prehistory were not based on sound scientific knowledge, but gradually the scientific principles of plant science were discovered. A turning point was the discovery of the laws of inheritance by Gregor Mendel in 1866. Currently, leading-edge techniques such as molecular tools have entered the selection arena to further enhance our ability to choose the desired genotype.
