Spatial Distribution of Trait-specific Diversity in Indian Wheat Collections

A total of 5,930 accessions of wheat were collected in collaboration with crop-based institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) from diverse areas of the country during the period 1976–2013. Of these, 3,973 accessions were short-listed with details on state, district, village, collector number, latitude (N) and longitude (E) of the collection sites to understand the diversity distribution pattern. The geo-referenced map of collected diversity depicted that Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states were extensively explored for Triticum aestivum and Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh for T. turgidum subsp. durum. Among the local landraces, drought tolerant Jautri local type from Madhya Pradesh; awnless types Lakh, Dhavati and Hansy from Uttarakhand; and non-shattering types Kankoo and Dharmauri from Himachal Pradesh were some notable collections. Besides, the priority areas for collection of cultivated species of wheat distributed in different agro-ecological regions were identified and discussed in the present communication.