Agrobiodiversity, Vol. I. Crop Genetic Resources and Conservation

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Genetic diversity in rice and conservation of germplasm/M. Subramanian and S. Thirumeni. 2. Rice genetic resource of Kerala: collection, conservation, evaluation and use/S. Leena Kumary. 3. Agrobiodiversity in the food crops of North Western Himalayas/H.S. Gupta and Arun Gupta. 4. Sorghum and millet genetic resources management/N. Seetharama, M. Elangovan, I.S. Khairwal, K.T. Krishne Gowda, A. Seetharam, Vilas A. Tonapi and N. Sivaraj. 5. Sorghum germplasm collection and conservation/M. Elangovan. 6. The phylogenetic relationship of genetic diversity and biotechnological developments in Vigna spp./A. Manickam and P. Sivakumar. 7. Studies on genetic biodiversity in oilseeds/V. Muralidharan, N. Manivannan and P. Vindhiyavarman. 8. Rapeseed--mustard biodiversity: management and utilization/Arvind Kumar and A.K. Misra. 9. Genetic diversity, germplasm recourses and its utilization in cotton/K.N. Gururajan and K. Mohanraj. 10. Diversity in the genus saccharum/V.A. Amalraj, N. Vijayan Nair and A.W. Jebadhas. 11. Genetic diversity in Sugarcane/U.S. Natarajan. 12. Ex-situ conservation of sugarcane genetic resources/A. William Jebadhas, V.A. Amalraj and N. Vijayan Nair. 13. Conservation of genetic diversity in potato-priorities and challenges in this new millennium/Suman Kumar Pandey and Debabrata Sarkar. 14. Biodiversity of tropical tuber crops/S. Edison, K. Abraham, B. Vimala, M. Unnikrishnan and M.N. Sheela. 15. Agrobiodiversity conservation and its utilization of tropical tuber crops/M.N. Sheela, S. Edison, Santha V. Pillai, C.S. Easwari Amma, M. Unnikrishnan and M.T. Sreekumari. 16. In vitro studies and conservation of tropical tuber crops/M. Unnikrishnan, M.N. Sheela, T. Sreeja and V. Asha. 17. Application of biotechnology in conservation and utilization of plant biodiversity/Hartharan S. Dhaliwal. 18. Biosafety and risk assessment issues related to transgenics development and commercialization/K.R. Koundal. 19. Paddy post--production systems/A. Dakshinamurthy. 20. Sustainable use and conservation of agrobiodiversity through protecting as goods of geographical indications/S.K. Soam, S. Prakash Tiwari and R. Kalpana Sastry. 21. Contribution of species to the national economy/M. Tamilselvan. 22. Biodiversity of zingiberaceous species and their conservation/V.A. Parthasarathy, B. Sasikumar, K.V. Saji and D. Prasath. 23. Biodiversity of tropical fruits/J. Suresh, N. Kumar and S. Anbu. 24. Biodiversity of cashew, its conservation and utilization efforts/M. Gangadhara Nayak and M. Gopalakrishna Bhat. 25. Diversity in palms and cocoa/V. Rajagopal, B.A. Jerard, K.S. Ananda, Amitha Karun, S. Elain Apshara, K. Samsudeen, V. Niral, V. Arunachalam, Jiji George and P.M. Kumaran. 26. Biodiversity of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) and utilization/D. Balasimha and S. Elain Apshara. 27. Arecanut genetic resources and improvement/K.S. Ananda. 28. Horticultural biodiversity in the North-Eastern India and its conservation/K.A. Pathak, Kundan Kishroe and D.S. Yadav. 29. A critical review on rice transformation technology against pest(s) and disease(s)/K. Lenin, B. Power and M.R. Davey.

"Considering the Agro-biodiversity as one of the richest national resource in country's economy, strategic attempt for conforming unforeseen vagaries of climate and building block for developing varieties of plants and animal species with multi-utility dimensions, it is much needed option for developing a suitable knowledge base. It is estimated that about three quarters of genetics diversity of agricultural crops was lost in the preceding century. Out of 6300 animal species, 1350 are considered endangered and in extinction. Forest dwellers, fishermen, herders and farmers are maintaining the diversity by selecting plants and animals to meet the current environmental conditions and food requirements. Under these premises, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai Organized a National Conference on Agro-biodiversity in Chennai from February 12-17, 2006. Researchers, academicians, policy planners, and administrators presented their view point on current status and future prospects of taking advantage of this resource. This vicarious knowledge resource will have high exploitation value for protecting and conserving the dwindling wealth, the country can boost of. The proceedings of this conference are brought out in three distinct volumes.

Volume I is devoted to the description of genetic biodiversity, collection, conservation and evaluation of rice, sorghum, oilseeds options including rapeseed, coconut, cotton, sugarcane, potato, tuber crops cultivars from different ecosystems. Application of biotechnology in conservation and utilization of plant biodiversity has been aptly portrayed." (jacket)