Realities and possibilities of improving cereal crops through mutation breeding

Bread wheat is the most important food crop in Pakistan, followed by rice. The wheat breeding programme was started in 1972. So far, 105 stable mutants have been produced that are being used in national and international breeding programmes. A total of 147 stable genotypes have been evolved through conventional breeding. Additional income through conventionally bred wheat cultivars was more than three times that generated by the mutant cultivars. It has been noted that conventional breeding is economically more rewarding than mutation breeding. The future possibilities for utilization of induced mutations in wheat improvement are enormous. They can be realized pragmatically by combining all other genetic methods and by exploiting useful genotype x environment interaction. Mutation breeding in rice was initiated in 1963. Sixty stable mutants were produced, of which one, Shadab, has been released as a new cultivar and in 1988-1989 covered about 2% of the rice growing area (14,400 hectares) in the Sind Province. New genetic and molecular information has opened further possibilities for improving rice through mutation breeding. 25 refs, 5 tabs