Use of Exotic Germplasm in Development of New Varieties in Indian Context: A Review

Exotic genetic libraries challenge the view that we are living in a time of decreasing opportunities for crop improvement through the use of classical breeding approaches. Exotic germplasm can make a wide array of previously unexplored genetic variation rapidly available to plant breeders and geneticists. Because genetic diversity within elite cultivars of a crop is limited compared to the variability within the species and its relatives worldwide, genes from exotic germplasm can protect the crop against new biotic and a biotic stresses, and may represent unique alleles for productivity that are absent from elite crop gene pools. Either in combination with GM technology or without it, exotic genetic libraries represent a dynamic new resource that could substantially enrich traditional crop improvement programmes for many years to come. Exotic germplasm incorporation programs require long-term commitments and appropriate breeding strategies, and may be assisted by DNA marker technologies.