Prospects for developing perennial grains
Publication: BioScience, 2006, Vol. 56, No. 8, pp. 649-659.
Perennial plants, growing in mixtures, make up most of the world’s natural terrestrial biomes. In contrast, monocultures of annual crops are sown on more than two-thirds of global cropland. Breeding programs aimed at developing perennial grain crops have been initiated in wheat, sorghum, sunflower, intermediate wheatgrass, and other species.