Methods in Fruit Breeding

Germplasm resource and exploration, maintenance and preservation. Breeding techniques: pollen and seed management. Hybridization and handling seedling populations. Mutation breeding, ploidy manipulations, tissue culture and embryo culture selection: breeding strategy, response to selection and somatic selectoin and chimeras. Breeding for specific objetives: disease resistance, insect, mite and nematode resistance, resistance to environmental stress, adaptation to specific climatic and soil environments, quality, rootstocks, mecanized harvest and fruitfulness and productivity. Testing and release: testing and cultivar evaluation, cultivar release and protection, certification and supporting phytopathology and data collection, analysis and retrieval.