Biodiversity and Plant Breeding as Tools for Harmony - Between Modern Agriculture Production and the Environment

The agenda for a new “Green Revolution” needs to consider new approaches to promote innovations in plant science, agricultural and management practices and benefits to farmers and consumers. In this article two general ways are described in which plant breeders can engage in environmental issues: i) by breeding plants that are better adapted to environment and environmental stresses, producing more with less and where productivity can be maintained in the face of increasingly variable weather patterns and sub-optimal conditions, as well as pest and disease pressures; and ii) by breeding plants that can alter and “improve” environments, as breeding alternative crops and crops for new uses or breeding for local adaptation and sustainable solutions.