  Supersymmetric theories often include the non-compact directions in the field
space along which the tree level potential grows only up to a certain limited
value (determined by the mass scale of the theory) and then stays constant for
the arbitrarily large expectation value of the field parametrizing the
direction. Above the critical value, the tree-level curvature is large and
positive in the other directions. Such plateaux are natural candidates for the
hybrid inflaton. The non-zero F-term density along the plateau spontaneously
breaks SUSY and induces the one-loop logarithmic slope for the inflaton
potential. The coupling of the inflaton to the Higgs fields in the complex
representations of the gauge group, may result in a radiatively induced
Fayet--Iliopoulos D-term during inflation, which destabilizes some of the
squark and slepton flat directions. Corresponding soft masses can be larger
than the Hubble parameter and thus, play a crucial role for the Affleck--Dine
baryogenesis.
