What is Hybridization?
When a plant or animal is bred with a plant or animal from different stock, the process is known as hybridization. There are numerous reasons to create hybrids, including increasing genetic diversity and breeding for specific traits. Hybridization is frequently practiced in agriculture, to make stronger, healthier plants with desirable characteristics. Animal breeders also use hybridization to create new breeds or to try to breed out unwanted traits, such as hip dysplasia in some purebred dogs. The most common type of hybridization involves crossing two organisms of different breeds within the same species. This is also called cross breeding. In agriculture, cross breeding is used to create healthier crops or new flavors, such as the tangelo, a cross between a tangerine and a pomelo. Hybridization in agriculture is vitally important to maintain genetic diversity, and by extension the health and longevity of a crop. Many large agricultural companies engage in monocropping, planting only
