Crop improvement through use of mutation breeding-a Review

The sustainability of agriculture in sub-Sahara Africa is threatened by rapid population explosion and climatic change, resulting in challenges with food sustainability and malnutrition. Conventional breeding approaches alone cannot produce sufficient varieties to match the ever increasing demand for nutritious food because of associated limitations. On the other hand, transgenic breeding is still plagued with controversies. Plant mutation breeding is thus an alternative approach for developing crop varieties. There is therefore need to invigorate mutagenesis of crops in Africa to facilitate crop improvement. Mutagenesis can develop exceptional useful plants in a relatively short time. It can broaden genetic base and increase genetic diversity as a prerequisites for successful conventional plant breeding. The fast debilitating effect of climate change can also be mitigated by developing drought resistant cultivars for future generations with mutagenesis. Mutation breeding can therefore contribute towards attainment of some of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as ending hunger, achieving food security and zero poverty. In this paper we highlight prospect of mutation breeding for crop improvement in Africa