Distant Hybridization of Crop Plants

Wild taxa are invaluable sources of resistance to diseases, insects/ pests, nematodes, temperature extremes, salinity and alkalinity stresses, and also of nutritional quality; adaptation; genetic diversity and new species. Utilization of wild relatives of a crop depends largely upon its crossability relations with cultivated varieties. Sev­ eral wild species are not crossable with the commercial cultivars due to various isolation barriers. Furthermore, in a few cases, hybridiza­ tion is pos...