Global Plant Genetic Resources for Insect Resistant Crops

This book explores plant biodiversity, its preservation, and its use to develop crops resistant to pests, thereby reducing world-wide use of chemical pesticides. From the foreward by -Masa Iwanaga, Deputy Director General (Programme), International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy: "... it is essential that the problem of food security be recognized as a challenge facing all of humanity, and that concerted global efforts in agricultural research be intensified. . . . exciting successful examples of effective use of genetic diversity for the development of insect-resistant crops abound. This book provides many such examples, from which we can learn valuable lessons for the effective use of conserved germplasm. The widely applicable lesson is that close, effective, and long-term collaboration is required among different players, including germplasm curators, plant breeders, molecular biologists, entomologists, ecologists, and social scientists."