Breeding Strategies To Improve Production Of Agave (Agave Spp.)

Agaves are perennial species that originated in the arid lands of North America, Mexico and Central America. They are well adapted to high temperatures and drought which makes them important species for the future of agriculture under water scarcity. Agaves are economically-important source of industrial products, food industry, steroids for animal feedstuffs, ornamental plants and as a raw material for biofuels. Because of their long-life spans and inefficient sexual reproduction, it is very difficult to genetically improve agaves and relatively little has been done in this respect. There is only one example of a breeding program, implemented by the British in what was then Tanganyka, now Tanzania, during the first half of the twentieth century, which produced the only hybrid (H11648) that has ever been commercially exploited. Consequently, the main alternative to improve the productivity of agaves is by means of the selection of elite individuals to be propagated through tissue culture for the establishment of plantations. This strategy has been used by some industries in Mexico with very good short-term results. Some Agave species have been domesticated and have become important plantation crops, but others are extracted from wild populations endangering the natural resource. Tissue culture and domestication have been used to rescue endangered varieties and offer a means of protection against overexploitation of the natural environment. There are several studies on the genetic variability of agaves but not enough is known to be directly applied in genetic improvement programs. This chapter reviews the current knowledge of this field and discusses advances and potential applications and uses of agaves.