Plant Breeding; Critical Contributions to Life - Sustaining Our Food Supply.

World demand for food, feed, fuel and fiber is increasing dramatically and is challenging agriculture productivity.   The amount of “new” land that can be put into production is limited and the additional use of fragile, marginal land for agriculture production is undesirable.  Increasing the quantity and quality of the agriculture production can best be accomplished through a combination of improved genetics and optimal crop management.   The newest plant breeding technologies being developed and deployed will be highlighted in this symposium.   A few areas included are:  molecular breeding, transgenic trait development, and effective evaluation and advancement of potential commercial products.