ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the significance of plant biotechnology, plant-breeding techniques by the classical approach, and plant-breeding techniques by the modern approach and plant diseases and explains their causes. It explains how genetically modified plants are created, the benefits of genetically modified plants. The chapter provides examples of genetically modified plants. With the growing world population, it is critical to have enough food grains and vegetables to feed them. The traditional methods to cultivate plant crops is not sufficient to produce enough food grains and vegetables, hence the use of modern technology is required. Plant breeding has been in practice for thousands of years. It is now practiced worldwide by individuals such as gardeners and farmers, or by professional plant breeders employed by organizations such as government institutions, universities, crop-specific industry associations, or research centers. In classical plant breeding, the closely or distantly related plants are crossed to produce new crop varieties or lines with desirable properties.
