# Plant Breeding

> Plant breeding steps, emasculation and bagging, Green Revolution semi-dwarf wheat and rice varieties and biofortification for NEET-UG Biology.

- Canonical URL: https://prepelephant.com/topics/neet-ug/biology/plant-breeding
- Exam / course: NEET-UG · Subject: Biology
- Publisher: PrepElephant (https://prepelephant.com) — Prepared and reviewed by the PrepElephant Academic Review Team
- First published: 2026-10-02
- Last updated: 2026-10-02
- How to cite: "Plant Breeding", PrepElephant, https://prepelephant.com/topics/neet-ug/biology/plant-breeding

## Direct answer

Plant breeding is the purposeful manipulation of plant species to create improved plant types better suited to cultivation and human use — with higher yield, better quality, and resistance to disease and stress. Classical breeding follows five recognised steps: collection of variability, evaluation and selection of parents, cross hybridisation among the selected parents, selection and testing of superior recombinants, and testing, release and commercialisation of new cultivars.

## What you must remember

- **Techniques of crossing:** in a desired cross, emasculation — removal of anthers from the bisexual flower of the female parent before dehiscence — prevents self-pollination, after which the flower is bagged until the chosen pollen is dusted on the stigma.
- **Wheat:** the Green Revolution sprang from semi-dwarf varieties derived from Norman Borlaug's Mexican wheats Sonora 64 and Lerma Rojo; Indian high-yielding semi-dwarf varieties include Kalyan Sona and Sonalika, with M. S. Swaminathan steering their Indian adoption.
- **Rice:** semi-dwarf rice breeding used IR8 from the Philippines and Taichung Native-1 from Taiwan; Indian semi-dwarf varieties derived from them include Jaya and Ratna.
- **Sugarcane:** the tropical Saccharum officinarum, with thick stems and high sugar, was crossed with the hardier north Indian Saccharum barberi to give hybrids combining high yield, thick stems, high sugar and adaptability to north Indian conditions.
- **Disease resistance:** breeding resistant cultivars reduces dependence on fungicides and bactericides; Himgiri wheat was developed for resistance to leaf and stripe rust; resistance genes are often transferred from wild relatives of the crop.
- **Biofortification:** breeding crops with enhanced nutritional content — Atlas 66 wheat with high protein, iron-enriched rice and spinach, and vitamin A-rich carrot varieties — targeting hidden hunger in Indian diets.

## Common confusion

Emasculation and bagging are two halves of one control that students often blur: emasculation removes the anthers to prevent selfing, while bagging protects the emasculated flower from unwanted pollen until the desired pollen is applied. Do not confuse variety breeding with biofortification — the former targets yield and resistance, the latter specifically improves vitamin, mineral or protein content of the grain.

## Exam-focused takeaway

NEET-UG draws direct match-the-following questions on variety names — Kalyan Sona and Sonalika (wheat), IR8 and Jaya (rice), Himgiri (rust resistance), Atlas 66 (protein). Statement-based questions test the sequence of the five breeding steps and the purpose of emasculation, while assertion-reason items link biofortification with malnutrition. Learn each variety with its crop and its single claim to fame, exactly as NCERT lists them.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is emasculation and why is it done?

It is the removal of anthers from a bisexual flower before they shed pollen, done to prevent self-pollination in a planned hybridisation; the flower is then bagged.

### Which varieties are associated with the Green Revolution in wheat?

Semi-dwarf varieties derived from the Mexican wheats Sonora 64 and Lerma Rojo, with Indian high-yielding varieties such as Kalyan Sona and Sonalika.

### Name the famous semi-dwarf rice varieties.

IR8, developed in the Philippines, and Taichung Native-1 from Taiwan; Indian semi-dwarf varieties include Jaya and Ratna.

### What is biofortification?

Breeding crops with higher vitamin, mineral or protein content — for example Atlas 66 wheat with high protein quality and iron-rich rice varieties.

### Why are wild relatives used in breeding programmes?

They are natural reservoirs of resistance genes against diseases and pests, which can be transferred into cultivated high-yielding varieties.