"Artificial hybridisation is a crop improvement technique where only desired pollen grains are used for pollination, and the stigma is protected from contamination by unwanted pollen. It ensures that the plant breeder has complete control over the cross.
Major Steps Involved:
Emasculation:Removal of anthers from a bisexual flower before they dehisce, using forceps. (Note: Not required for unisexual flowers).
Bagging: Covering the emasculated (or unisexual) flower with a bag (usually made of butter paper) to prevent unwanted pollen from landing on the stigma.
Pollination: When the stigma becomes receptive, mature pollen from the desired parent is dusted on it.
Re-bagging: The flower is covered again to allow fruit development.
Utility in Plant Breeding:
Combination of Traits: It allows breeders to combine desirable characteristics (like high yield, disease resistance, and drought tolerance) from two different plants into a single superior variety.
Genetic Improvement: It is the primary method for creating high-yielding Hybrid Seeds used in modern agriculture.
Precision: It eliminates the chance of random, inferior pollination, ensuring that the progeny has the specific traits targeted by the breeder."