Conventional and Biotechnological Approaches for the Improvement of Industrial Crops

Industrial crops serve as vital components of global economic systems, fulfilling multifaceted roles in various sectors. However, they encounter challenges, such as the impacts of climate change and susceptibility to diseases. In the face of climate change and a growing global population, ensuring food security entails the development of climate-resilient crop varieties with superior nutritional quality. Traditional breeding methods, involving the selection and introduction of desirable traits, are time-consuming. However, in recent years, modern biotechnological tools have expedited the development and release of new cultivars by enhancing our understanding of genetic traits. By integrating these tools with conventional breeding, opportunities arise to cultivate industrial crops with improved quality, quantity, and tolerance to environmental stresses. Additionally, local adaptation can be achieved through methods such as plant domestication and farmer-led selection. This chapter delves into conventional breeding techniques and modern biotechnological tools specially in industrial crops, including plant tissue culture, genetic transformation, targeting induced local lesions in genome (TILLING), RNAi, and genome editing, emphasizing their role in knowledge transfer from scientists to farmers.