Agriculture

Message of the Departments Head

"Plant Breeding" enjoys an interdisciplinary nature and is concerned with the genetic improvement of crops, fruit trees, grassland and medicinal plants in terms of biometrics, resistance to biological and non-biological stresses, cell culture, tissue and plant organs, classical and molecular cytogenetics, molecular markers and genetic engineering (production of recombinant proteins, secondary metabolites, biological and non-biological stresses). This department conducts theoretical and applied research with the aim of commercializing resulting findings. The goal of graduate studies in the field of genetics and plant breeding is to educate graduates who are qualified in research and education in their field of study.

Introduction

This department was founded at TMUs Faculty of Agriculture in 1986 and it has currently five full-time faculty members who are graduates of the most reputable national or international universities. This department initially began its graduate program in Plant Breeding, and later in 2001 began to offer Ph.D. program in this field. The name of "Plant Breeding" department was changed to Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding in 2017 with a change of the syllabus. Up to this date (Sep, 2018), the department has had about 182 M.Sc. and 49 Ph.D. graduates in plant breeding. Currently, the department focuses on the expansion of relevant sub-disciplines, and recruitment of competent faculty members specialized in relevant scientific areas.