Fruit Breeding

Fruit breeding is a discipline that demands time, space, and specific qualities, making it both an art and a science. While seed propagation can lead to heterogeneity, asexual propagation of elite clones can result in the development of new and novel varieties. Different types of fruits exist, including those that require specific temperature and light requirements, such as temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical fruits. Additionally, there are parthenocarpic and apomictic fruit trees that demand special breeding methods for improvement. Unlike other horticultural crops like vegetables, spices, plantation crops, and tubers, fruits have unique characteristics such as aroma, taste, and flavor.The book Fruit Breeding: History, Approaches and Prospects explores the history of fruit breeding, biodiversity, challenges, and approaches, as well as topics such as apomixes, mutation breeding, the role of insects in fruit production, molecular markers, statistical techniques, rootstock breeding, and the breeding of specific fruit varieties such as mango, citrus, banana, papaya, guava, sapota, jackfruit, sugarapple/sweetsop, Indian jujube, and jamun. The book features 20 chapters authored by 15 scientists from six research institutes and universities, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of fruit breeding that is rarely explored by breeders.