This open-access textbook provides a comprehensive up-to-date guide for students and
practitioners wishing to access in a single volume the key disciplines and principles of wheat
breeding. Wheat is a cornerstone of food security: it is the most widely grown of any crop and
provides 20% of all human calories and protein. The authorship of this book includes world
class researchers and breeders whose expertise spans cutting-edge academic science all the way
to impacts in farmers' fields. The book's themes and authors were selected to provide a
didactic work that considers the background to wheat improvement current mainstream breeding
approaches and translational research and avant garde technologies that enable new
breakthroughs in science to impact productivity. While the volume provides an overview for
professionals interested in wheat many of the ideas and methods presented are equally relevant
to small grain cereals and crop improvement in general. The book is affordable and because it
is open access can be readily shared and translated -- in whole or in part -- to university
classes members of breeding teams (from directors to technicians) conference participants
extension agents and farmers. Given the challenges currently faced by academia industry and
national wheat programs to produce higher crop yields --- often with less inputs and under
increasingly harsher climates -- this volume is a timely addition to their toolkit.
