Question

Besides conventional breeding technique for disease-resistant varieties of plant, nowadays, a new breeding technique is practised. How is it advantageous over the conventional technique and is there any drawback of this technique?

Answer 1

Conventional breeding is often constrained by the availability of a limited number of disease-resistant gene. New breeding techniques involving - genetics, molecular biology, tissue culture have resulted in the plant types that are better suited for cultivation, give better yields and are disease resistant. The disadvantage of these techniques can be the leakage of the introduced gene in the wild varieties or the possible unforeseen ill effects.