Track 4-1-1: Plant Genetic Resources, Collection, Conversation, Evaluation and IPR Issues
Description
Indian subcontinent is a megacentre of agro-diversity. Legumes have a special place with several native crops and economically important species occurring along forest margins and openings, pastures, grasslands and grazing lands. Several are dual-purpose species for food and feed. However, herbage legumes though major components of grasslands and with a major role in their quality and improvement lack persistence as compared to grasses and their collection, maintenance and conservation assumes importance in the wake of change and loss of habitats of native species and introduction of new germplasm with forage potential. Establishing the correct identity of species is therefore a priority. The major forage legume crops of India (Anon., 2013) belong to Tribes Trifolieae- Trifolium, Medicago, Melilotus among temperate legumes; Phaseoleae- Vigna; and Indigofereae- Cyamopsis tropical, subtropical and arid conditions (Arora and Chandel, 1972). These have a good representation of erect, spreading and viny species with potential for use as forage, soil improvement and use as green manure and often with non-toxic herbage and successfully grown over widely varying environmental conditions making this a morphologically variable and highly diverse germplasm resource. Collecting species of native and introduced species from these habitats that are in a state of flux is important for locating potentially important and unique diversity well adapted to the areas of occurrence.
Several species of forage legumes, both native and introduced (Nayar et al., 2014) were represented as reference specimens of plants collected from the wild or grown in experimental conditions at the National Herbarium of Cultivated Plants (acronym: NHCP). An initiative undertaken was to authenticate the identity of these, and work out characters that could be used for field identification.
Included in
Legumes of Forage Value: Their Diversity and Priority for Collection in India
Indian subcontinent is a megacentre of agro-diversity. Legumes have a special place with several native crops and economically important species occurring along forest margins and openings, pastures, grasslands and grazing lands. Several are dual-purpose species for food and feed. However, herbage legumes though major components of grasslands and with a major role in their quality and improvement lack persistence as compared to grasses and their collection, maintenance and conservation assumes importance in the wake of change and loss of habitats of native species and introduction of new germplasm with forage potential. Establishing the correct identity of species is therefore a priority. The major forage legume crops of India (Anon., 2013) belong to Tribes Trifolieae- Trifolium, Medicago, Melilotus among temperate legumes; Phaseoleae- Vigna; and Indigofereae- Cyamopsis tropical, subtropical and arid conditions (Arora and Chandel, 1972). These have a good representation of erect, spreading and viny species with potential for use as forage, soil improvement and use as green manure and often with non-toxic herbage and successfully grown over widely varying environmental conditions making this a morphologically variable and highly diverse germplasm resource. Collecting species of native and introduced species from these habitats that are in a state of flux is important for locating potentially important and unique diversity well adapted to the areas of occurrence.
Several species of forage legumes, both native and introduced (Nayar et al., 2014) were represented as reference specimens of plants collected from the wild or grown in experimental conditions at the National Herbarium of Cultivated Plants (acronym: NHCP). An initiative undertaken was to authenticate the identity of these, and work out characters that could be used for field identification.
