Diversity in morphological characters of 206 accessions of 14 wild Vigna species from India was assessed. Of these, 12 species belonged to Asian Vigna in the subgenus Ceratotropis and two were V. vexillata and V. pilosa belonging to subgenus Plectotropis and Dolichovigna, respectively. Data on 71 morphological traits, both qualitative and quantitative, were recorded. Data on 45 qualitative and quantitative traits exhibiting higher variation were subjected to multivariate analysis for establishing species relationships and assessing the pattern of intraspecific variation. Of the three easily distinguishable groups in the subgenus Ceratotropis, all the species in mungo-radiata group, except V. khandalensis, viz. V. radiata var. sublobata, V. radiata var. setulosa, V. mungo var. silvestris and V. hainiana showed greater homology in vegetative morphology and growth habit. The species, however, differed in other plant, flower, pod and seed characteristics. Within species variation was higher in V. mungo var. silvestris populations and three distinct clusters could be identified in multivariate analysis. V. umbellata showed more similarity to V. dalzelliana than V. bourneae and V. minima in the angularis-umbellata (azuki bean) group. Within species variations was higher in V. umbellata than other species in the group. In the aconitifolia-trilobata (mothbean), V. trilobata populations, were more diverse than V. aconitifolia. The cultigens of the conspecific wild species were more robust in growth, with large vegetative parts and often of erect growth with three-to five-fold increase in seed size and seed weight, except V. aconitifolia, which has still retained the wild type morphology to a greater extent. More intensive collection, characterisation and conservation of species diversity and intraspecific variations, particularly of the close wild relatives of Asian Vigna with valuable characters such as resistance to biotic/ abiotic stresses, more number of pod bearing clusters per plant etc. assumes great priority in crop improvement programmes.
Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are invaluable gene sources for various traits of interest, yet these potential resources are themselves increasingly threatened by the impact of climate change as well as other anthropogenic and socio-economic factors. The prime goal of our research was to cover all aspects of wild Lens genetic resource management like species characterization, agro-morphological evaluation, diversity assessment, and development of representative sets for its enhanced utilization in lentil base broadening and yield improvement initiatives. We characterized and evaluated extensively, the global wild annual Lens taxa, originating from twenty seven counties under two agro-climatic conditions of India consecutively for three cropping seasons. Results on various qualitative and quantitative characters including two foliar diseases showed wide variations for almost all yield attributing traits including multiple disease resistance in the wild species, L. nigricans and L. ervoides accessions. The core set developed from the entire Lens taxa had maximum representation from Turkey and Syria, indicating rich diversity in accessions originating from these regions. Diversity analysis also indicated wide geographical variations across genepool as was reflected in the core set. Potential use of core set, as an initial starting material, for genetic base broadening of cultivated lentil was also suggested.
There is a growing realisation world over that the introduction of modern agriculture has to be supplemented with measures to conserve biodiversity in situ if yield gains are to be stabilized. Hence, there is a growing interest from agricultural development specialists and conservation biologists for understanding the socioeconomic factors determining the conservation of biodiversity in situ. The present study was conducted with the objective of understanding the in situ (on-farm) conservation of agrobiodiversity in traditional agroecosystems taking the Urgam valley in north-western Himalaya of India, as a case study. An inventory was made of traditional crops and wild economic species for subsistence, and the structure of forest resource base, traditional knowledge related to resource management and use. Institutional and scientific challenges for in situ (on-farm) management of crop diversity were studied and are discussed in this paper. Complementarity of in situ (on-farm) conservation with ex situ conservation together with crop improvement in such marginal areas are suggested.
The biodiverse, predominantly crop-livestock mixed-farming in India is key to ensuring resilience to climate change and sustainability of smallholder farming agroecologies. Farmers traditionally grow diverse crops as polyculture, and agriculture is mainly organic/biodynamic with spirituality in food systems deeply ingrained. Job-driven out-migration of rural youths, the family labor force, and globalization of contemporary food choices under corporate industrial agriculture both adversely affect sustainability of traditional farming landscapes and compromise the nutrition and health of rural farming communities. Besides documenting information on general agri-food system policy inputs, our paper presents the results of an exploratory study of four crucial community-level initiatives conducted in four distinct agroecological landscapes of India, aimed at bringing sustainability to traditional farming and food systems. The driving force for fundamental change in agri-food system, and in society, is the question of sustainability. The organic and local food movements are but specific phases of the larger, more fundamental sustainable agri-food movement. While it is very critical to increase farmer livelihood, it is even more important to increase overall rural economy. It was found that four important interventions viz. linking organic agriculture to community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives; linking small-holder farming to school meal (MDM) programmes; enhanced market access and value chain development for local agricultural produce; and creation of employment opportunities at community level for rural youths and reducing over-dependence of rural population on agriculture as source of income can make traditional farming more profitable and sustainable. The transition to more sustainable methods of farming by selling the farm produce “locally” helps both consumers and farmers alike and is considered a future strength of smallholder Indian agriculture.
Farming communities in traditional agroecosystems have been playing an important role in conserving agricultural diversity. They are not only the custodians but also managers of the crop diversity and maintain the dynamic processes of crop evolution and adaptation, the key elements of sustainable agricultural productions. The Himalayan highlands are important centres of crop plant diversity due to high ecological heterogeneity and high local socio-cultural integrations. The crop genetic diversity of Kumaon Himalaya in Uttarachal State of India has been documented in the present study. Existing crop genetic diversity at inter-and intra-species level was assessed and factors for changes in crop compositions and farming systems during the recent past were studied. Farmer management of rice landrace populations were studied in greater detail. Various benefit enhancing options for farmers from local crop diversity were scrutinized based on farmer perceptions and priorities for efficient management of local crop diversity on-farm and its sustainable utilization for agricultural production.
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