Sept 2012
Germplasm Utilization
Enhancing germplasm utilization
™™ To overcome the size-related problems of
utilizing collections, scientists at ICRISAT
developed core and mini core collections
representing the entire collection for diversity.
™™ Established networks and tested sets
of selected germplasm and mini core
collections (178 sets) for various locations in
26 countries.
™™ Organized field days facilitating selection of
promising germplasm by researchers.
™™ Developed trait-specific genepools.
™™ Extensive multi-disciplinary evaluation/
screening of germplasm, particularly core
and mini core collections at ICRISAT and
by NARS resulted in identification of several
new promising sources for use in crop
improvement programs.
Crop
Entire
collection
Accessions
used in core
development
Core
collection
Mini core
collection
Sorghum 37,943 22,473 2,247 242
Pearl millet 22,211 20,766 2,094 238
Chickpea 20,140 16,991 1,956 211
Pigeonpea 13,632 12,153 1,290 146
Groundnut 15,419 14,310 1,704 184
Finger millet 5,949 5,940 622 80
Foxtail millet 1,535 1,474 155 35
Introduction
™™ Only a small proportion (<1%) of assembled
germplasm has been used in crop improvement
programs.
™™ Germplasm distribution over the years
indicates reduction in demand and in number of
accessions requested.
™™ Most breeders use working collections leading to
narrow genetic base in resulting cultivars.
™™ Greater use of germplasm is needed for
sustainable crop improvement to develop high
yielding cultivars with a broad genetic base.
Reasons for low use of germplasm
™™ Large size of collections.
™™ Lack of data on traits of economic importance,
which shows high genotype × environment
interaction.
™™ Restricted access to the germplasm collections.
™™ Inadequate linkages between genebank and users.
Mini core collection as a means of accessing
genetic resources by researchers.
Field days
Sorghum field day at ICRISAT-Patancheru.
Pearl millet
field day in
Namibia.
Pearl millet field day at ICRISAT-Patancheru.
Chickpea field day at ICRISAT and selection of
germplasm by NARS scientists.
Chickpea field days at ICRISAT.
Groundnut germplasm field days at ICRISAT-
Patancheru.
Sweet stalk accessions identified in sorghum
collection.
Vegetable pigeonpea,
a source of income to
the poor farmers.
Core and mini core collections