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Plant Biotechnology for Agricultural Sustainability

Abstract:

Plant biotechnology is an essential tool that allows agriculture improvement by increasing food production through tissue culture, molecular biology, and crop improvement. At present, agriculture is facing many problems that affect food production seriously; some of these problems are degradation of soils, salinity, contamination with heavy metals and hydrocarbons, drought, desertification, deforestation, and one of the solutions is biotechnology. This chapter will discuss aspects related to sustainable agriculture and food challenge, plant biotechnology, and plant biotechnology and sustainability. First, the incidence of agriculture is analyzed, on the one hand, in the reduction of hunger, and on the other, in the degradation of the environment, which can only be resolved through a sustainable model. Secondly, the most relevant applications of modern biotechnology in the accelerated propagation of plants, germplasm conservation, and genetic improvement are described. Next, both elements are linked, and it is analyzed how biotechnology can contribute to sustainability through modern technologies. The contribution of modern biotechnologies to sustainability in agriculture is illustrated through the presentation of examples of work done with the genus Lupinus. This genus comprises species useful for sustainable agriculture, which serve as a source of proteins and secondary metabolites, as well as in crop rotation. This chapter shows some of the results achieved in the multiplication and in vitro conservation of species from Lupinus, as examples of the application of biotechnology with an environment friendly approach.