Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources

Dairy industry and animal rearing have opened up new market avenues and Indian farmers are taking up fodder production in a much bigger way. Forage crops occupy an important position across the world. For developing varieties resistant to various pests and diseases and to improve forage quality and quantity, there is a continuous need of diverse genetic resources. Acquisition of diverse and superior forage germplasm plays an important role in the development of varieties. Keeping this in mind, the Germplasm Exchange Division played the pivotal role and introduced a total of 13,181 accessions of forage crops into India mainly from Australia, Italy, USA, UK, Brazil, Germany, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Philippines, Singapore, Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia and New Zealand. Most of the introduced germplasm was supplied to Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute and All India Coordinated Research Project on Forage Crops located at Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Some promising varieties introduced into India were directly used for cultivation. Forage species of Sesbania rostrata, Sesbania aculeata, Pennisetum squalatum and Pennisetum pedicellatum from different Institutes were registered for various traits and their seeds have been deposited for long-term storage in National Gene Bank. Details of trait specific germplasm, wild germplasm introduced and conserved in forage crops in India are highlighted.