Plant Breeding and genomics focus of new national web resource

As global food needs increase, so does the need for crops that can be efficiently and safely produced. Traditional plant breeding methods have served well in the past and breakthrough technologies are now available to aid this process. These breakthroughs include key information on the genetics, or “genomes” of crops. A group of researchers and educators from America’s land-grant universities, government agencies and industry, have banded together to create the first-ever internet resource aimed at quickly putting basic research on crop genomes into practice through plant breeding programs across the U.S. to more efficiently improve crops. The resource is a new online community housed at eXtension (pronounced E-extension), www.extension.org, at the www.extension.org/plant_breeding_genomics.

Story Source:Plant breeding news (PBN-L) / http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/services/pbn.html