The Australian Vigna Species: A Case Study in the Collection and Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives

Abstract

This article describes 35 years of research into the potential value of Australian native legumes of the Vigna genus in breeding improved crop varieties for cultivation. [Extract] Over the past three and a half decades, a collection of crop wild relatives in the legume genus Vigna has been assembled from tropical and subtropical Australia and nearby regions. Vigna is an important genus, especially in traditional village agriculture, and includes a range of pulses, for example, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), mungbean (Vigna radiata), black gram (Vigna mungo), adzuki bean (Vigna angularis), and rice bean (Vigna umbellata); vegetables, for example, long bean (V. unguiculata); tubers (Vigna vexillata); and forages, for example, Vigna luteola, Vigna marina, and Vigna hosei. The project started in the late 1970s at Brisbane in subtropical Australia, and then in the mid-1990s transferred to Townsville in the northeastern tropics. The aim was to develop a clearer understanding of the natural diversity within the wild Vigna species across northern Australia and to assess their likely utility for plant genetic improvement (Lawn et al., 1988).