Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Nutritional Security

Abstract

Plant genetic resources (PGR) have been extensively used to develop new cultivars for meeting the emerging challenges and needs of the society. These have played a pivotal role in assuring food and nutritional security of the humankind. Our National Agricultural Research System, particularly the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, has made dedicated efforts to collect indigenous germplasm and introduce exotic germplasm and conserve the same. Indigenous germplasm has been used to develop crop varieties and even now traditional varieties/landraces act as rich source of genes of economic importance (submergence tolerance in FR13A rice, salinity tolerance in Pokkali rice and Kharchia wheat). Exotic germplasm has been used to develop several landmark varieties including IR 8 rice; Kalyansona and Sonalika wheats, the cultivation of which resulted in Green Revolution. Hybridization of indigenous and exotic germplasm to combine their desirable traits has led to remarkable achievements in enhancing crop productivity coupled with adaptation to prevalent agro-ecologies. The overdependence on improved cultivars of few crops (to ensure food security of increasing human population) for human diet markedly changed the food consumption pattern causing hidden hunger, and also making these crops more vulnerable to biotic and abiotic (climate change) stresses. In view of these developments, research on nutritional security and adaptation to changes in agro-ecologies has been getting greater attention in recent past with appreciable successes. In these research programmes, unadapted germplasm of same crop species and wild relatives are being increasingly used. More focussed efforts are needed on acquisition, characterization and conservation of PGR as well as their use. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture needs to be implemented in letter and spirit and pre-breeding research on wild relatives be strengthened to develop usable PGR and be strongly linked with cultivar development.