Mutation breeding

Mutation breeding or variation breeding is the process of exposing seeds to chemicals or radiation. This will increase the number of mutations in the seed. These seeds can then be crossed with other cultivars to get desirable traits. Plants created using mutagenesis are sometimes called mutagenic plants or mutagenic seeds. From 1930 to 2014 more than 3200 mutagenic plant varieties were released. 70 precent of these plants are direct mutants,thirty percent are the offspring of direct mutants. Crop plants account for three quarters of released mutagenic species with the remaining quarter are ornamentals or decorative plants. Even though the FAO/IAEA reported in 2014 that over 1,000 mutant varieties of major staple crops were being grown worldwide, it is unclear how many of these varieties are currently used in agriculture or horticulture around the world, as these seeds are not always identified or labeled as a mutagen or having a mutagenic provenance.