Plant breeding is the process of producing new varieties of plants by artificial selection. It is a method of improving the genetic make-up of plants.

Following are the various methods of plant breeding:

(i) Hybridisation: It is the crossing between two genetically dissimilar plants to produce a new variety of plant.

(ii) Recombinant DNA technology: It is the method of transferring genes from one organism to another to modify the genetic make-up of latter. It gives rise to transgenic plants.

(iii) Polyploidy: It refers to increasing the chromosome number of a plant that leads to increase in the plant production.

(iv) Mutation breeding: Mutations are sudden inheritable variations. They are produced at random through gamma irradiation and a number of other physical and chemical agents called mutagens.