Plant Introduction in Development and Diversification of Indian Agriculture

Abstract

Major agricultural crops were domesticated over a period
of thousands of years in different phtyo-geographical
regions of the world, known as centres of origin and
diversity. The development of trade between different
civilizations, led to the dispersal of plants of economic
importance to other parts of the world contributing to
evolution and diversification of agriculture. The process
offree movement and exchange ofplant genetic resources
(PGR) and its utilization in breeding continued through
various regimes leading to the development of modem
agriculture that feeds more than 6 billion people in
the world today. For these reasons, no country is selfsufficient
in genetic resources and needs genetic resources
from other countries to meet the challenges of crop
improvement, responding to changing global agricultural
scenario with regard to food and nutritional security
and! or agro-industrial development. The dependence
of different countries on non-indigenous crops varies
from 63 (e.g. India, West-central Asia) to 100 percent
(eg. Australia).