Question

List out some useful traits in the improved crop?

Answer 1

Some of the useful traits in improved crops are:

1. Higher yield: The main aim of crop improvement is to improve the productivity 1 of economic produce, e.g., grain, vegetables and fodder.
2. Biotic and abiotic resistance: Under different situations crop suffers due to biotic | (diseases, insect-pest infestations) and abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, waterlogging, heat, cold and frost). Developing crop varieties resistant to such stress will significantly improve crop production. For example, MUW 318 is a variety of wheat that is resistant to all the rust.
3. Photo-insensitivity and Thermo – insensitivity: Most plants are sensitive to certain abiotic factors like light and temperature. The development of photo-insensitive and thermo-insensitive crop varieties will help in crossing the cultivation t boundaries.
4. Wider adaptability: Developing the crop varieties with wider adaptability will help in stabilising the crop production under different environmental conditions. For example, ICPH8 is a hybrid pigeon pea plant that takes a short duration to mature and performs well under drought as well as high moisture conditions.