Chrysanthemum is the world's second most important floriculture crop in India. The world trade in floriculture is over $ 100 billion and is growing at the rate of 15% per annum. The demand of Chrysanthemum in developed countries is more than 90% as one of the floriculture products. India's floriculture industry is likely to enhance flower business upto Rs.8000 crore by the year 2015, since, it is growing at a compound annual growth rate of ca.30%. The Indian floriculture industry is poised at about Rs.3700 crore, with just 0.61% share in the global floriculture sector which is also likely to reach 0.89% by 2015 as 50% area of floriculture is found in Karnataka, A.P., Tamilnadu, W.B., Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Induced mutation plays an important role in the genetic improvement of plants. The crops which do not produce any seed, mutation breeding is the only way to improve these crops. These mutants can be isolated through conventional method or chimera management techniques. The physical and chemical mutagens have been used successfully for induction of somatic mutations for flower colour, shape and size which can be exploited for improved breeding programs in future.

This monograph provides a comprehensive review of many aspects of current interest and progress on mutation research on vegetatively propagated ornamentals. It covers almost all aspects of induced mutagenesis on ornamental plants. Chapters in this title provides information about mutation technology for the development of new ornamental varieties. Taking all aspects together, it is an excellent reference book of updated information on mutation breeding on vegetatively propagated ornamentals. Floriculture has become a very important industry in many countries as a result of science-based techniques and a steady supply of improved plant materials. The induced mutation is now recognized as well as a standardized valuable tool for the development of new varieties. The book provides an authoritative review account of all important aspects related to inducing mutagenesis in the field of ornamental crops. The primary objective of the book is to give a coherent and concise account of earlier work with an emphasis on recent developments. The knowledge generated so far has been reviewed in this book which can work as a knowledge base to prepare guidelines for future planning of successful application of mutation technology for the floriculture industry. The information in the book is an excellent informative document for researchers, teachers, students, and breeders for understanding the application of induced mutations and planning future strategies for the development of new ornamental varieties for the floriculture industry.

The volume on oilseed crops is developed as a part of a series on “Handbook of Agrobiodiversity: Conservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources”. The handbook would function as a ready reference book for availability of PGR globally, along with specific source, wherefrom they can be procured, and used breeding programs, particularly to overcome various crop production constraints and to improve productivity and quality. The volume on floriculture and ornamental plants will be the source of basic information on origin and evolution and global dispersal of cultivated species of ornamentals. Presently, floriculture has established its credibility in improving income through increased productivity, generating employment and in enhancing exports. All research and developmental activities on ornamental crops are essentially multi-disciplinary in nature recognizing local issues as well as country issue. Floriculture is developing as an area of high technology based frontier interdisciplinary area on scientific excellence. Floriculture has progressed both scientifically and commercially due to concentrated efforts made on multidisciplinary research. It is developing as an area of high technology based frontier interdisciplinary area on scientific excellence. The volume will contain all information about different ornamentals. This shall be put together to develop a complete documentation of the results of the research and demonstrations conducted by different scientists. The volume will provide an illustrated horto-taxonomical account of important ornamental species and cultivars, germplasm status and their usages, propagation, nursery management, techno-economics, conventional breeding, induced mutagenesis, new varieties, cytogenetics, tissue culture, characterization of varieties, dehydration of flowers etc. This volume will give a coherent and concise account on recent developments. It will deal with all the important and relevant aspects of floriculture. The publication of this volume is planned to reveal multifarious activities done on different aspects of floriculture so that innovations made so far can be used judiciously for this sector. This book shall provide authoritative review account of many aspects of current interest and progress in the field of floriculture. The topics included in the book are interdisciplinary and cater not only classical floriculture but also relevant modern aspects. The book will provide valuable data on different aspects and will be widely accepted by by professional scientists, researchers, teachers, students, floriculturists, technocrats and planners. The volume will be an invaluable asset to floriculture scientists.

In the present era various international organizations, such as FAO, UNO, IAEA, FNCA, etc., have unanimously agreed that millions of people in both developing and developed countries are not only facing a shortage of food, but also non-availability of nutrients. The main reason put forward by these agencies is that there is less genetic diversity prevalent in the major crops, which has been further diminished since the inception of conventional plant breeding. Since the first decade of the last century the mutation breeding approach has been pivotal in enhancing the genetic diversity of crops, thereby enriching the genetic pool. ‘Mutagenesis: exploring genetic diversity of crops’ describes the latest achievements in mutation breeding, with a particular focus on the development of novel mutant varieties and F1 hybrids of crops highly superior to the parental ones. The book details experimental as well as literary studies of induced mutagenesis and its role in developing the new potent varieties. The book will be useful for agricultural policy making authorities in countries of agricultural importance, scientific researchers, breeders, teachers and students keen to use mutation breeding and to explore its hidden potential to secure food and nutrient availability for the growing world population.

The book is an excellent reference collection of the research conducted by different workers on induced mutagenesis, worldwide, for more than 80 years. One can get almost all mutation breeding references at one place. The book gives a coherent and concise account of all the important and relevant aspects related to induced mutagenesis with an emphasis on recent developments in the field of crop improvement. The references have been arranged crop wise and important topic wise which deal with not only classical mutation breeding but also spontaneous mutations, somaclonal variations, nanoparticles, and relevant modern aspects. The book highlights 22 chapters covering holistic information on almost all important components such as radiosensitivity, chromosomal and morphological abnormalities, detection of mutation, management of chimera, present status of mutation etc.) of Mutation Breeding. Chapters are very informative, and one can follow the references on crop and aspect basis since the start of mutation breeding work. This book is an excellent resource for researchers and students for understanding proper applications of induced mutations in crop improvement and biological research. It is of interest and useful to graduate and postgraduate students, horticulturists, floriculturists, agricultural scientists, and breeders related to crop improvement program.

This book highlights the recent progress on the applications of mutation breeding technology in crop plants. Plant breeders and agriculturists are faced with the new challenges of climate change, human population growth, and dwindling arable land and water resources which threaten to sustain food production worldwide. Genetic variation is the basis which plant breeders require to produce new and improved cultivars. The understanding of mutation induction and exploring its applications has paved the way for enhancing genetic variability for various plant and agronomic characters, and led to advances in gene discovery for various traits. Induced mutagenesis has played a significant role in crop improvement and currently, the technology has resulted in the development and release of more than 3600 mutant varieties in most of the crop plants with great economic impact. The field of ‘mutation breeding’ has come long way to become an important approach for crop improvement. This book covers various methodologies of mutation induction, screening of mutants, genome editing and genomics advances and mutant gene discovery. The book further discusses success stories in different countries and applications of mutation breeding in food crops, horticultural plants and plantation crops. This informative book is very useful to plant breeders, students and researchers in the field of agriculture, plant sciences, food science and genetics.