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Cereals are the major sources of energy for both human and other animals as they possess carbohydrate, protein, fibres, nutrients and many other important components. There are several factors which affect the quality of cereals along with crop productivity and yield directly or indirectly. Maintaining the seed quality reflects in the production of improved yield, longer storage period as well as high nutritional valued cereals. Biotechnological approaches take the centre stage in significant contribution towards maintaining the seed quality. The preference of these approaches over the traditional ones is due to the less time consumption, cost-effectiveness and robust outputs. Major biotechnological approaches, such as biofortification and transgenics, for insect resistance are of prime importance to many cereal crops. Important cereals, such as rice, maize, wheat, etc., have been biofortified to produce high nutrients for animal consumption. It has been able to combat nutrient starvation by increasing micronutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamins and other biotic compounds. Insect infestation is a major issue for both developing and underdeveloped countries as it causes up to 40% damage to the crops. Transgenic approaches have been successfully employed to get resistance against various insects and storage pests in important cereals. Presently, the scientific community is more focused towards the enrichment of cereals, which ultimately can solve the basic issues such as malnutrition, increasing demand for food supply and starvation. Seed biotechnology has a great potential to offer the high nutrient value cereals for upcoming generations. The present chapter aims at providing a brief scenario of the basic issues related to the seed quality and important biotechnological approaches to overcome those constrains. |
