2017
ISBN: 978-3319879260
This book documents from the very outset the domestication of what has become a major commercial plant species. Domestication is addressed as the interactive combination of management systems and genetic improvement. Not only are the technical principles traced, but also the settings and influences of geography, institutions, key personalities and economic forces. After an introduction, six chapters cover historical periods, from the distant past to the present day, each concluding with a summary of progress and problems encountered. Two final chapters cover respectively a retrospective overview and then a consideration of the future, with opportunities, threats and environmental benefits.
