When breeding plants, growers typically cross two species that are within the same genus. And perhaps most importantly to the food industry, it has developed more disease resistant plants.Īny two plants of the same genus can usually be cross bred. It has helped produce crops that grow faster or grow in a wider variety of temperatures and climates. Plant breeding has helped farmers develop stronger and more resilient crops. Plant breeding is one of the oldest accomplishments of man. Similarly, in a farm setting, a farmer will often choose which crops should be planted in the following year, based on which individual plants were healthiest. The part that makes plant breeding unique is that people can carefully determine which two plants should be crossed. This is possible due to countless years of adaptation through natural plant breeding. One pepper plant native to the desert may be more tolerant to low moisture, while another pepper plant can handle occasional flooding or downpours. It is how many plant species have different varieties that each grow well in different environmental conditions. The process happens naturally all the time. In short, plant breeding is the intentional manipulation of a plant species to produce offspring with desirable characteristics. While that can certainly be true in a commercial setting, it is not at all the only way that plant breeding can happen. Plant breeding may sound like a process that takes place in a laboratory by very serious men wearing white lab coats. They’ve been known to be called “designer fruits,” and combine the characteristics of two plants within the same species.ĭesigner fruits are generally produced by using two different plant “parents” and cross-breeding to produce a hybrid offspring. These, and many other more typical fruits like common strawberries and almost all citrus varieties, are the result of plant breeding methods. The kiwi is actually a relatively new fruit, derived from a very unappetizing, small berry plant in China. For example, the “pluot” or the cotton candy flavored grapes. If you frequently go to specialty food stores like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, you’ve seen “new” fruits being added to the shelves.
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