© Springer International Publishing AG 2016 257
M. Farooq, K.H.M. Siddique (eds.), Innovations in Dryland Agriculture,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47928-6_10
Breeding and Genetic Enhancement
of Dryland Crops
Quahir Sohail, Hafsa Naheed, and Reza Mohammadi
1 Introduction
Drylands cover about 41 % of Earth’s land area and are inhabited by more than 2
billion people. Of the total area of drylands, dry sub-humid, semiarid, arid and
hyper-arid sub-systems cover 21 %, 37 %, 26 % and 16 %, respectively. About 25 %
of the world’s drylands are croplands, 65 % are rangelands, and the remaining 10 %
are other areas such as inland water systems and urban areas. Croplands and range-
lands are often interwoven, supporting mixed and integrated livelihoods. Due to
increasing populations, a transformation from rangelands to croplands is occurring
in many areas.
Water shortage is reaching critical limits in many dry areas and water scarcity
has been predicted in some areas where water is abundant at present. Problems like
salinity and wind erosion, leading to land degradation, are enhanced by water short-
age. Efforts to feed more people will further increase agricultural water use result-
ing in severity of water scarcity in some areas, and may cause water scarcity even in
areas that are relatively well endowed with water resources. It is predicted that the
annual maximum temperature by 2050 will increase by 1–3 % (IPCC 2007 ). The
rate of evapotranspiration will also increase with global warming which will lead to
changes in agricultural systems and cropping patterns.
Q. Sohail (*)
International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Winter Wheat
Improvement Program, Ankara, Turkey
e-mail: [email protected]
H. Naheed
The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan
R. Mohammadi (*)
Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (DARI),
Sararood Branch, AREEO, P O Box 67145-1164, Kermanshah, Iran
e-mail: [email protected]