Contents 1. Maria Isabel Andrade: Sweetpotato Breeder, Technology Transfer Specialist, and Advocate 1 2. Development of Cold Climate Grapes in the Upper Midwestern U.S.: The Pioneering Work of Elmer Swenson 31 3. Candidate Genes to Extend Fleshy Fruit Shelf Life 61 4. Breeding Naked Barley for Food, Feed, and Malt 95 5. The Foundations, Continuing Evolution, and Outcomes from the Application of Intellectual Property Protection in Plant Breeding and Agriculture 121 6. The Use of Endosperm Genes for Sweet Corn Improvement: A review of developments in endosperm genes in sweet corn since the seminal publication in Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 1, by Charles Boyer and Jack Shannon (1984) 215 7. Gender and Farmer Preferences for Varietal Traits: Evidence and Issues for Crop Improvement 243 8. Domestication, Genetics, and Genomics of the American Cranberry 279 9. Images and Descriptions of Cucurbita maxima in Western Europe in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 317

While there has been great progress in the development of plant breeding over the last decade, the selection of suitable plants for human consumption began over 13,000 years ago. Since the Neolithic era, the cultivation of plants has progressed in Asia Minor, Asia, Europe, and ancient America, each specific to the locally wild plants as well as the ecological and social conditions. A handy reference for knowing our past, understanding the present, and creating the future, this book provides a comprehensive treatment of the development of crop improvement methods over the centuries. It features an extensive historical treatment of development, including influential individuals in the field, plant cultivation in various regions, techniques used in the Old World, and cropping in ancient America. The advances of scientific plant breeding in the twentieth century is extensively explored, including efficient selection methods, hybrid breeding, induced polyploidy, mutation research, biotechnology, and genetic manipulation. Finally, this book presents information on approaches to the sustainability of breeding and to cope with climatic changes as well as the growing world population.

Plant Breeding and Cultivar Development features an optimal balance between classical and modern tools and techniques related to plant breeding. Written for a global audience and based on the extensive international experience of the authors, the book features pertinent examples from major and minor world crops. Advanced data analytics (machine learning), phenomics and artificial intelligence are explored in the book's 28 chapters that cover classical and modern plant breeding. By presenting these advancements in specific detail, private and public sector breeding programs will learn about new, effective and efficient implementation. The insights are clear enough that non-plant breeding majoring students will find it useful to learn about the subject, while advanced level students and researchers and practitioners will find practical examples that help them implement their work. - Bridges the gap between conventional breeding practices and state-of-the-art technologies - Provides real-world case studies of a wide range of plant breeding techniques and practices - Combines insights from genetics, genomics, breeding science, statistics, computer science and engineering for crop improvement and cultivar development

Contents 1. Maria Isabel Andrade: Sweetpotato Breeder, Technology Transfer Specialist, and Advocate 1 2. Development of Cold Climate Grapes in the Upper Midwestern U.S.: The Pioneering Work of Elmer Swenson 31 3. Candidate Genes to Extend Fleshy Fruit Shelf Life 61 4. Breeding Naked Barley for Food, Feed, and Malt 95 5. The Foundations, Continuing Evolution, and Outcomes from the Application of Intellectual Property Protection in Plant Breeding and Agriculture 121 6. The Use of Endosperm Genes for Sweet Corn Improvement: A review of developments in endosperm genes in sweet corn since the seminal publication in Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 1, by Charles Boyer and Jack Shannon (1984) 215 7. Gender and Farmer Preferences for Varietal Traits: Evidence and Issues for Crop Improvement 243 8. Domestication, Genetics, and Genomics of the American Cranberry 279 9. Images and Descriptions of Cucurbita maxima in Western Europe in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 317

"The book...is, in fact, a short text on the many practical problems...associated with translating the explosion in basic biotechnological research into the next Green Revolution," explains Economic Botany. The book is "a concise and accurate narrative, that also manages to be interesting and personal...a splendid little book." Biotechnology states, "Because of the clarity with which it is written, this thin volume makes a major contribution to improving public understanding of genetic engineering's potential for enlarging the world's food supply...and can be profitably read by practically anyone interested in application of molecular biology to improvement of productivity in agriculture."

Plant adaptation is a fundamental process in plant breeding. It was the first criterion in the initial domestication of plants thousands of years ago. Adaptedness is generally a quantitative complex feature of the plant, involving many traits, many of which are quantitative. Adaptation to stresses like cold, drought or diseases are among the most central problems in a world grappling with global food security. Modern plant breeding, based on mendelian genetics, has made plant improvement more effective and more precise and selective. Molecular genetics and genetic engineering has considerably increased this selectivity down to single genes affecting single traits. The time has come when plant breeding efficiency may cause loss of genetic resources and adaptation. In these proceedings an effort is made to merge modern plant breeding efficiency with ecological aspects of plant breeding, reflected in adaptation. It is hoped that this merger results in more sustainable use of genetic resources and physical environments. The book is based on 10 keynotes addressing a wide spectrum of themes related to adaptation. In addition each subject is further elaborated in up to three case studies on particular plant species or groups of plants. The keynotes do in fact overlap to some degree and there are articles in this volume that seemingly contradict each other, a common aspect in advanced fields of research. The keen reader may conclude that, in a world where climates and environments are under continuous change and where human society is more and more polarized into a developed and a developing part, adaptation of our cultivated plants has different constraints on yields depending on ecology, and indeed economy.

This volume provides a state-of-the-art review of the relationship between technology and economic growth. Many of the 42 chapters discuss the political and corporate decisions for what one author calls a "Competitiveness Policy." As contributor John A. Young states, "Technology is our strongest advantage in world competition. Yet we do not capitalize on our preeminent position, and other countries are rapidly closing the gap." This lively volume provides many fresh insights including "two unusually balanced and illuminating discussions of Japan," Science noted.