Advances in genetics and breeding of rice: An overview

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is life for more than half of the human population on Earth. In the history of rice breeding, two major yield breakthroughs or leaps occurred, which phenomenally revolutionized rice breeding: the Green Revolution in the 1960s and hybrid technology in the 1970s. However, the fruits of these technologies have not spread globally to all rice-growing areas, especially African countries, for diverse reasons. It is estimated that at least 50% more rice yield is needed to feed the anticipated nine billion people by 2050. This clearly warrants another breakthrough in rice. It is apparent that the currently used conventional and molecular marker-assisted methods need to be updated with multi-pronged approaches involving innovative cutting-edge technologies for achieving the next breakthrough in rice. Here, we attempt to discuss the exciting avenues for the next advances in rice breeding by exploiting cutting-edge technologies.