In particular, maintaining resistance to
rapidly evolving pests and pathogens is an
essential mainstay of breeding programs. Interactions
between breeders, pathologists, and agronomists
must be maintained to ensure that
crops and cropping systems change coordinately.
No-till farming, in which plowing of the soil is
avoided, for example, has changed the spectrum
of diseases and pests attacking crops, to the extent
that a change in breeding targets was needed. The
development of multiple cropping systems will
also demand interactions between agronomists