Agricultural biotechnology represents a broad range of technologies used in food and agriculture for the genetic improvement of plant varieties and animal populations, characterization and conservation of genetic resources, diagnosis of plant or animal diseases and other purposes.
Biotechnology has been used to refer to a set of tools that uses living organisms (or parts of organisms) to make or modify a product, improve plants, trees or animals, or develop microorganisms for specific uses.
But most frequently today the term is used to refer to knowledge about the natural processes of DNA replication, breakage, ligation, and repair that has made possible a deeper understanding of the mechanics of cell biology and the hereditary process.
Biotechnology can be applied to all genus of organisms from viruses and bacteria to plants and animals and it is becoming a major feature of modern medicine, agriculture and industry. Biotechnology improves production, saves time and money and causes reduction in chemical application.
Agricultural biotechnology is the term used in crop and livestock improvement through biotechnology tools. This monograph will focus only on agricultural crop biotechnology.
Modern agricultural biotechnology includes a range of tools that scientists utilize to understand and manipulate the genetic make-up of organisms for use in the production or processing of agricultural products.
Agricultural biotechnology plays a crucial role in economic growth sustainability and economic competitiveness, especially in developing countries. In addition, biotechnology has a specific position in enhancing food security so that could be used as an advantage in sustainable agriculture for small farmers in developing countries.
The biotechnology tools that are important for agricultural biotechnology include:
*Conventional plant breeding
*Tissue culture and micropropagation
*Molecular breeding or marker assisted selection
*Genetic engineering and GM crops
*Molecular Diagnostic Tools
Agriculture biotechnology
