This book is intended to be a brief compilation of the information available on the breeding of temperate fruit crops. The goal is to provide overviews on the evolution of each crop, the history of domestication, the breeding methods employed and the underlying genetics. A serious effort is made to fully integrate conventional and biotechnological breeding approaches. A discussion is also provided on licensing and patenting. It is hoped that this book can be used as a springboard for breeders desiring an update, horticulturalists who wonder what the fruit breeders are doing and geno- cists...

The genetic variability that developed in plants during their evolution forms the basis of their domestication and breeding into the crops grown today for food, fuel and other industrial uses. This third edition of Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species brings the subject up-to-date, with more emphasis on crop origins. Beginning with a description of the processes of evolution in native and cultivated plants, the book reviews the origins of crop domestication and their subsequent development over time. All major crop species are discussed, including cereals, protein plants,...

Over the last five centuries, plantation crops have represented the best and worst of industrialized agriculture - "best" through their agronomic productivity and global commercial success, and "worst" as examples of exploitative colonialism, conflict and ill-treatment of workers. This book traces the social, political and evolutionary history of seven major plantation crops - sugarcane, banana, cotton, tea, tobacco, coffee and rubber.

It describes how all of these were domesticated in antiquity and grown by small landowners for thousands of years before European traders and...