The Role of Induced Mutations in World Food Security

Physical availability and economic accessibility of food are the most important criteria of food security. Induced mutations have played a great role in increasing world food security, since new food crop varieties embedded with various induced mutations have contributed to the significant increase of crop production at locations people could directly access. In this paper, the worldwide use of new varieties, derived directly or indirectly from induced mutants, was reviewed. Some highlights are: rice in China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the USA; barley in European countries and Peru, durum wheat in Bulgaria and Italy, wheat in China, soybean in China and Vietnam, as well as other food legumes in India and Pakistan. An exact estimate of the area covered by commercially released mutant cultivars in a large number of countries is not readily available, but the limited information gathered clearly indicates that they have played a very significant role in solving food and nutritional security problems in many countries. (author)