Varietal improvement of pulse crops in India: Introspection and prospectives

Abstract

The work on crop improvement in India started in the beginning of the 20th century by the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa, Bihar where germplasm samples of different pulse crops were collected, purified and evaluated. Some of the pure lines were released for cultivation. This work continued for several years. However, systematic efforts were made by Indian Council of Agricultural Research in collaboration with All India Coordinated Pulses Improvement Project (AICPIP) centres of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). National Bureau of Plant Genetics Resources (NBPGR) and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) also made significant contributions in collection of germplasm as well as their evaluation. The resistant donors were identified and used to transfer gene (s) for several biotic stresses. As a result, several high yielding varieties were developed in major pulses crops through intra-specific hybridization. Large numbers of these varieties are resistant to one or more major diseases of the zone. Six varieties in mungbean, two in blackgram and one in chickpea were developed through inter-specific hybridization which had new plant type and resistance to prevailant diseases. However, limited success has been achieved for the development of varieties with resistance to insect-pests and abiotic stresses. There is a need to intensify research in these areas through introgression of desirable alleles from secondary and tertiary genpool into the cultivated type for photo period and temperature insensivity and insect pest tolerance. The support of genomic resources may also be used in this endeavour.