Plant Breeding

Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics.

Agronomists bred high-yielding varieties of corn, wheat, and rice. HYVs have higher nitrogen-absorbing potential than other varieties.

William James Farrer (3 April 1845-16 April 1906) was a leading English Australian agronomist and plant breeder.

George Harrison Shull (April 15, 1874, September 28, 1954) was an American plant geneticist who played a central role in the development of hybrid maize and in establishing the genetic basis of heterosis. He was one of several siblings who pursued careers in biology; his brothers included the plant physiologist Charles Albert Shull, professor at the University of Chicago and founding editor-in-chief of Plant Physiology; the zoologist Aaron Franklin Shull of the University of Michigan; and the botanist and botanical illustrator J. Marion Shull.

Nazareno Strampelli (May 29, 1866, in Castelraimondo, Italy, January 23, 1942) was an Italian agronomist and plant breeder.

Edward Murray East (October 4, 1879, November 9, 1938) was an American plant geneticist, botanist, agronomist and eugenicist.

Yuan Longping (Chinese: 袁隆平; pinyin: Yuán Lóngpíng; September 7, 1930, May 22, 2021) was a Chinese agronomist and inventor.

He was awarded this prize for his scientific research in developing 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries.

Sir Rowland Harry Biffen FRS (28 May 1874, in Cheltenham, 12 July 1949) was a British botanist, mycologist, geneticist and a professor of agricultural botany at the University of Cambridge who worked on breeding wheat varieties.

Orville Vogel (1907-1991) was an American scientist and wheat breeder whose research enabled the "Green Revolution" in world food production.

Family: Joe Burton (son) Glenn W. Burton (May 5, 1910 near Clatonia, Gage County, Nebraska, November 22, 2005 Tifton, Georgia) was an American agricultural scientist notable for his pioneering work in plant breeding, development of pearl millet in 1956, and for other contributions that helped increase world food production. Burton was also known for the development of Bermuda grasses used on athletic fields.

Benjamin Peary Pal or B. P. Pal FRS (26 May 1906-14 September 1989) was an Indian plant breeder and agronomist who served as a director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi and as the first Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Henry Monroe "Hank" Beachell (September 21, 1906, December 13, 2006) was an American plant breeder.

Surinder Vasal is an Indian geneticist and plant breeder, known for his contributions in developing a maize variety with higher content of usable protein.

Gebisa Ejeta (born 1950) is an Ethiopian American plant breeder, geneticist and Professor at Purdue University.

Robert Mwanga (born 24, May, 1954) is a plant breeder from Uganda.

Prior to founding Nature Source Improved Plants, Tanksley served as the Liberty Hyde Bailey professor of plant breeding and biometry and chair of the Genomics Initiative Task Force at Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at Cornell University.

Baldur Rosmund Stefansson, (April 26, 1917, January 3, 2002) was a Canadian agricultural scientist and as one of the originators of canola, became known as the "Father of Canola". Born in Vestfold, Manitoba, a son of Icelandic immigrants Guðmundur and Jonina Stefansson, he served in the Canadian army during World War II. After the war, he attended the University of Manitoba where he received a Dip.Ag. in 1949, a B.S.A. in 1950, and a M.Sc. in 1952.

Monty Jones (5 February 1951-28 April 2024) was a Sierra Leonean plant breeder and politician who served as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security. Jones served as the Special Adviser to the President of Sierra Leone and Ambassador-at-Large until his appointment to the cabinet. He served as the first Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and was adjudged a co-winner of the 2004 World Food Prize. The award was based on his discovery of the genetic process to create the New Rice for Africa (NERICA), which gives higher yields, shorter growth cycles and more protein content than its Asian and African parents.

Dilbagh Singh Athwal (12 October 1928-14 May 2017) was an Indian-American geneticist, plant breeder and agriculturist, known to have conducted pioneering research in plant breeding.

Khem Singh Gill (1 September 1930-17 September 2019) was an Indian academic, geneticist, plant breeder and Vice-Chancellor of the Punjab Agricultural University.

Ebrahimali Abubacker Siddiq (15 July 1937-22 January 2026) was an Indian agricultural scientist, whose research in genetics and plant breeding assisted in the development of various high-yielding rice varieties, such as dwarf basmati and hybrid rice.

Dioscoro Lopez Umali (November 17, 1917, July 1, 1992) was a Filipino agriculturalist and National Scientist of the Philippines awardee, known as "the Father of Philippine Plant Breeding." He was awarded several international honors and distinctions for his outstanding achievements and improvements of rice, corn and other economic plants.