Horticultural Crops -- Varietal Wealth
Contents: Foreword. Acknowledgement. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Genetic resources of horticultural crops. 3. Varieties of horticultural crops: i. Fruits: a. Tropical and subtropical fruits. b. Temperate fruits. ii. Vegetable crops: a. Solanceous vegetables and Okra. b. Cucurbits. c. Crucifers and temperate vegetables. d. Leguminous vegetables. e. Leafy vegetables. f. Root, tuber and bulbous crops. iii. Flower crops. iv. Plantation crops. v. Spices: a. Major spices. b. Tree spices. c. Seed spices. vi. Medicinal and aromatic crops: i. Medicinal plants. ii. Aromatic crops. Appendices. Index.
“Horticulture is emerging as the best option among the various enterprises of Agriculture. India is the largest producer of mango, banana, coconut, cashew nuts, ginger, turmeric and black pepper and the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. India accounts for 10 per cent of the world fruit production and is the second largest producer of vegetables with 113.0 mt. contributing to 14.4% of total world production. The area and production of flowers, spices and condiments, mushrooms, coconut and cashew also indicated three fold increases in last few decades. The rapid technological advances in varietal improvement made by ten central institutes, 27 regional centers, 6 directorates, 7 national research centers and 14 AICRPs with 223 centres and three full fledged horticulture universities existing across the country have led to development to nearly 1500 improved varieties of horticultural crops numbering about 130 since fifties. Similarly all these institutes maintain a large gene pool in the form of genetic resources. The information would be of great use to students, researchers and industry.
The present book is a compilation of all the varieties developed in different horticultural crops detailing their specific traits along with the breeding methodology used to develop them. Every crop is dealt with a brief account of breeding methods followed by the varieties developed in the country. There are information on the varieties developed using various breeding methods.”
