The challenge is clear and the opportunity is within our grasp. Traditional genetic techniques have demonstrated that productivity can be improved via plant breeding. Yet, the practices used for genetic manipulation are cumbersome and rely on random crossing followed by years of selection among the resulting populations. If only it were possible to know where the genes were, what their functions were and how they were linked, then there could be major breakthrough advances in breeding. The improvements would no longer be linear and some dramatic jumps in efficiency could be obtained.
Efficiency here means improved output per unit input, with lowered environmental impact.
In other words, sustainable food supply per capita over time. The advances in biotechnology over the past few years have made it possible to generate genomic maps which could be utilized for such improvements. Some of this was driven by basic science and some generated out of the Human Genome Project. The intent is not to debate the merits of that particular project but to point to the ready availability of the science required to understand genetic sequences. The utility of a corn genome map is not just in assisting with the global food supply problem.