Giving Mother Nature a Helping Hand

26 August 2015

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Producer: IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication

For more than 80 years, mutation breeding has been a fundamental and highly successful tool in the global efforts to feed an ever increasing and nutritiously demanding population. The method uses radiation to expose seeds or other plant materials, which are then grown for two to four generations to identify new but rare mutants. Using this method, thousands of crop varieties have been generated, delivering high yields, tolerance to diseases, increased nutritional value and improved resilience to the effects of climate change.

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Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications Department of Technical Cooperation Technical cooperation programme Nuclear technology and applications Plant Breeding and Genetics Section Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture Food and agriculture Plant breeding Mutation breeding

Giving Mother Nature a Helping Hand

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