Plant and Agriculture Biotechnology
Agricultural biotechnology is the area of biotechnology involving applications to agriculture. Agricultural biotechnology has been practiced for a long time, as people have sought to improve agriculturally important organisms by selection and breeding. An example of traditional agricultural biotechnology is the development of disease-resistant wheat varieties by cross-breeding different wheat types until the desired disease resistance was present in a resulting new variety. Modern agricultural biotechnology improves crops in more targeted ways. The best known technique is genetic modification, but the term agricultural biotechnology (or green biotechnology) also covers such techniques as Marker Assisted Breeding, which increases the effectiveness of conventional breeding. Whatever the particular technology used, the crops may be destined for use for food, biomaterials or energy production. Genetic modification means that existing genes are modified or new genes included to give plant varieties desirable characteristics, such as resistance to certain pests or herbicides, or for vitamin fortification. Because only a few genes with known traits are transferred, GM methods are more targeted and faster than traditional breeding. Biotechnology has helped to increase crop productivity by introducing such qualities as disease resistance and increased drought tolerance to the crops. Plant biotechnology is the technique used to manipulate the plants for specific needs or requirement. In traditional process seed is the major source for germinating a new plant but the advance method is independent that combines multiple needs to get the required traits.