International Crop Germplasm Exchange at ICRISAT

Abstract

Success of crop improvement programmes depends on
the availability ofdiverse germplasm resources. Collection
of the crop germplasm got impetus in the 1920s and
as a result, presently, over six million germplasm
accessions are held in over 1300 genebanks across the
world. The International Crops Research Institute for
the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is one of the important
crop germplasm centers and holds 114 870 accessions
ofsorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut,
and six small millets. The germplasm collection has
been built up by the generous donations of several
national and international institutes and collections from
the farming communities around the world. A large
portion of this germplasm consists of landraces (78.6%)
followed by breeding lines (15.4%), wild relatives of
crops (2%), released cultivars (1.3%), and precise
information is not available for the remaining 2.6%
of germplasm accessions. About 99% of the collection
has been characterized for a number of morphological,
agronomical, and the nutritional quality traits, and the
information has been computerized under an easy retrieval
system.