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Why Study Plant Breeding?

The world is facing unprecedented Grand Challenges that include:

  • The world population is growing significantly and is predicted to be >9 billion by 2050.
  • There are no appreciable changes in availability of crop land globally.
  • Water tables are falling.
  • Climate change is increasing risks associated with crop production.
  • Crop yields must increase 2-fold by 2050 to meet the projected global demand for food and feed.

Plant Breeders play a central role in addressing these grand challenges by enhancing the quantity and quality of food, feed, fiber and biofuels globally, even under these difficult scenarios.

What do we study to become Plant Breeders?
Since Plant Breeding is an applied mutidisciplinary science, a solid education to become a plant breeder should include learning experiences in the following disciplines.

Plant Breeding related disciplines

Where can I work as a Plant Breeder?
Both private and public sector jobs are available for plant breeders to apply their knowledge for the ultimate goal of developing cultivars suited to human needs. Approximately 65-75% of breeders work in the private sector and 35-25% are employed in the public sector. Several studies have been conducted to predict the future demand of plant breeders in the U.S. and internationally, and they agreed in the strong demand for plant breeding graduates.