Mutant Varieties of Crop Plants

Since 1969, the Joint PAO/IAEA Division undertakes to collect and publish information on varieties of crop plants that were developed directly from induced mutants or by using mutants in cross breeding (Micke 1972 and Sigurbjörnsson and Micke (1969, 1974). The purpose of this undertaking is to assess realistically the potential of induced mutation techniques to contribute towards progress in plant breeding. Varieties which have successfully passed official trials and were approved or recommended by national governmental authorities for cultivation, appear to be good indicators of practical success. By 1 October 1978, we know about 195 of such varieties in agricultural crop plants). They belong to 37 different plant species and come from 30 different countries. In addition, there are more than 120 mutant cultivars of ornamental plants known, which represent a considerable economic value for countries with developed horticulture (Broertjes and van Harten 1978)