1National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi-110 012.
2NBPGR Regional Station, Vellanikkara, Thrissur-680 654, Kerala.
3Centre for Medicinal Plants Research, Arya Vaidhyasala, Kottakkal, Malappuram, Kerala.
4Indian Institute of Spices Research, P.O. Box 1701, Kozhikode-673 012, Kerala.
* Lead paper presented at the National Seminar on “Opportunities and Potentials of Spices for Crop Diversification”, Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. January 19–21, 2004.
Genetic resources of crop plants include genepools of both domesticated and wild species. They are the reservoirs of useful genes, which could be of immense use for the genetic improvement of crops. During the past three decades awareness has been generated to identify, collect and conserve the fast depleting and irreplaceable crop genetic resources for use by present and future generations. According to Vavilov (1926), about 160 species of domesticated plants have originated in India. Among these, spices constitute a very important group of plants, which had its origin in India. These are high value crops with potential for large-scale export. Hence, it is imperative to collect and conserve the germplasm of spice crops.
