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Plant breeding perspectives
Field Crops Research, 4 (1981) 83--86
83
Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
Book Reviews VLANT BREEDING PERSPECTIVES
Plant Breeding Perspectives. J. Sneep, A.J.T. Hendriksen (Editors) and O. Holbek (Co-Editor). Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1979. 460 pp., 88 illus., cloth-bound, Dfl. 120.00 (excl. 4% VAT), ISBN 90-220-0697-2. In this fine publication commemorating their 100th Anniversary D.S. van der Have Co., Royal Seed Producers and Merchants, have succeeded in bringing into perspective our ability to meet the present and future world f o o d requirement. The severity of the dilemma is well illustrated while the writers retain a very realistic and rational approach to what the future holds. The role and potential of plant breeding to alleviate or at least ease the food crisis is thoroughly addressed and well documented. As stated in the preface, the major purpose of the b o o k is "to give practical plant breeders and students of plantbreeding a panoramic view of the total subject and its main implications, especially those aspects that have a bearing on food production and the relative priority to be accorded to breeding for yield, quality and stability". In this pursuit the b o o k succeeds. The first three chapters deal with such fundamental issues as the ability of plant breeding to meet food and nutritional requirements; the physiological potential of crops to increase production and the extent and availability of genetic resources and variation for use b y breeders. It is clear that high priority must be given to meeting the population's energy needs and that if energy intake is sufficient other nutritional requirements are largely satisfied. There is ample evidence that increased yields can be achieved b u t the means of so doing vary from crop to crop and from area to area. Legitimate concern is expressed a b o u t the inadequacy of gene pools and of the urgent need to collect and conserve the wild relatives and land races of economic crops before they are totally replaced by improved, uniform cultivars. In these and most other chapters the authors have succeeded in avoiding a superficial coverage of important issues b y discussing in considerable detail specific crops and the relevant countries or regions. Chapters four, five and six deal with practical breeding objectives. G o o d coverage is given to current breeding methods, the need for improved crop adaption, particularly tolerance to stress conditions and the importance of breeding for disease and insect resistance. Specific crops, including potatoes, forage grasses, maize, sugar beets and sunflowers are discussed as examples of crop types which are amenable to different breeding methodology to solve very distinct problems. These crops are also used to illustrate the need to identify breeding priorities and to demonstrate what successes can or should be expected in different crops.
0378-4290/81/0000--0000/$02.50 © 1981 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company
84
Chapter seven deals with the problems and opportunities in various developing countries. Research deficiencies are identified, as are shortcomings in the areas of extension, communication and transport. The often ignored social implications of new crops and varieties are briefly discussed. The remaining chapters speculate on the future role of plant breeding, the expected changes in m e t h o d o l o g y and on anticipated changes in priorities. Although this b o o k does not lend itself to use as a text for students of plant breeding, it does provide a broad coverage of the role and potential of plant breeding on a world scale in the current and future context. It is in fact a stimulant to those who are or are aspiring to be plant breeders. The b o o k is well illustrated, including excellent colour plates. References provided after each chapter, although not as inclusive as one might expect, are current to 1978. This b o o k is a timely and welcome addition to any agricultural library. I am sure plant breeders and the general reader will be impressed with its approach and quality. L.E. EVANS
(Winnipeg, Man., Canada)
DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A G R I C U L T U R A L EXPERIMENTS
Agricultural Experimentation -- Design and Analysis. T.H. Little and
F.J. Hills. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1978. xiii + 350 pp., US$ 9.25, ISBN 0-471-02352-3. The authors state in the preface to their b o o k that it is written to satisfy the needs of busy agricultural research workers who "would like to learn enough of the basic principles of statistics to be able to design experiments properly and to obtain valid conclusions from the results". I do not believe that the authors achieve their goal. The text, in addition to covering the standard materials in an elementary statistics 'cook-book', contains chapters on the split-plot design, the splitsplit plot, the split-block, and curvilinear relations. The text is difficult to assess. It is both good and bad. It opens with an excellent introductory chapter which includes a very good description of deductive and inductive reasoning. Other parts of the text are equally well written., e.g. the section on "rounding and reporting n u m b e r s " and the section on statistical hypotheses and tests of significance. A feature of the text that merits c o m m e n t is the inclusion at the end of each chapter o f a concise summary. Further, the style makes the text easy to read. Unfortunately the m e t h o d of presentation of the statistics and statistical theory in the text make it impossible to recommend it. The authors are apologetic both in their m e t h o d of presentation and with respect to their subject.
83
Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
Book Reviews VLANT BREEDING PERSPECTIVES
Plant Breeding Perspectives. J. Sneep, A.J.T. Hendriksen (Editors) and O. Holbek (Co-Editor). Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1979. 460 pp., 88 illus., cloth-bound, Dfl. 120.00 (excl. 4% VAT), ISBN 90-220-0697-2. In this fine publication commemorating their 100th Anniversary D.S. van der Have Co., Royal Seed Producers and Merchants, have succeeded in bringing into perspective our ability to meet the present and future world f o o d requirement. The severity of the dilemma is well illustrated while the writers retain a very realistic and rational approach to what the future holds. The role and potential of plant breeding to alleviate or at least ease the food crisis is thoroughly addressed and well documented. As stated in the preface, the major purpose of the b o o k is "to give practical plant breeders and students of plantbreeding a panoramic view of the total subject and its main implications, especially those aspects that have a bearing on food production and the relative priority to be accorded to breeding for yield, quality and stability". In this pursuit the b o o k succeeds. The first three chapters deal with such fundamental issues as the ability of plant breeding to meet food and nutritional requirements; the physiological potential of crops to increase production and the extent and availability of genetic resources and variation for use b y breeders. It is clear that high priority must be given to meeting the population's energy needs and that if energy intake is sufficient other nutritional requirements are largely satisfied. There is ample evidence that increased yields can be achieved b u t the means of so doing vary from crop to crop and from area to area. Legitimate concern is expressed a b o u t the inadequacy of gene pools and of the urgent need to collect and conserve the wild relatives and land races of economic crops before they are totally replaced by improved, uniform cultivars. In these and most other chapters the authors have succeeded in avoiding a superficial coverage of important issues b y discussing in considerable detail specific crops and the relevant countries or regions. Chapters four, five and six deal with practical breeding objectives. G o o d coverage is given to current breeding methods, the need for improved crop adaption, particularly tolerance to stress conditions and the importance of breeding for disease and insect resistance. Specific crops, including potatoes, forage grasses, maize, sugar beets and sunflowers are discussed as examples of crop types which are amenable to different breeding methodology to solve very distinct problems. These crops are also used to illustrate the need to identify breeding priorities and to demonstrate what successes can or should be expected in different crops.
0378-4290/81/0000--0000/$02.50 © 1981 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company
84
Chapter seven deals with the problems and opportunities in various developing countries. Research deficiencies are identified, as are shortcomings in the areas of extension, communication and transport. The often ignored social implications of new crops and varieties are briefly discussed. The remaining chapters speculate on the future role of plant breeding, the expected changes in m e t h o d o l o g y and on anticipated changes in priorities. Although this b o o k does not lend itself to use as a text for students of plant breeding, it does provide a broad coverage of the role and potential of plant breeding on a world scale in the current and future context. It is in fact a stimulant to those who are or are aspiring to be plant breeders. The b o o k is well illustrated, including excellent colour plates. References provided after each chapter, although not as inclusive as one might expect, are current to 1978. This b o o k is a timely and welcome addition to any agricultural library. I am sure plant breeders and the general reader will be impressed with its approach and quality. L.E. EVANS
(Winnipeg, Man., Canada)
DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A G R I C U L T U R A L EXPERIMENTS
Agricultural Experimentation -- Design and Analysis. T.H. Little and
F.J. Hills. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1978. xiii + 350 pp., US$ 9.25, ISBN 0-471-02352-3. The authors state in the preface to their b o o k that it is written to satisfy the needs of busy agricultural research workers who "would like to learn enough of the basic principles of statistics to be able to design experiments properly and to obtain valid conclusions from the results". I do not believe that the authors achieve their goal. The text, in addition to covering the standard materials in an elementary statistics 'cook-book', contains chapters on the split-plot design, the splitsplit plot, the split-block, and curvilinear relations. The text is difficult to assess. It is both good and bad. It opens with an excellent introductory chapter which includes a very good description of deductive and inductive reasoning. Other parts of the text are equally well written., e.g. the section on "rounding and reporting n u m b e r s " and the section on statistical hypotheses and tests of significance. A feature of the text that merits c o m m e n t is the inclusion at the end of each chapter o f a concise summary. Further, the style makes the text easy to read. Unfortunately the m e t h o d of presentation of the statistics and statistical theory in the text make it impossible to recommend it. The authors are apologetic both in their m e t h o d of presentation and with respect to their subject.