The volume on fruit and nut as a part of series entitled "Agro-biodiversity: Conservation and Use of Genetic Resources" will be a unique resource , first of its kind, which will elaborate on origin, evolution, taxonomy, identification, chemical characterization, genetic improvement of fruits and nut crops.
Fruit and nut crop diversity is crucial for nutrition, livelihoods and ecosystem resilience around the world. The importance of these fruit and nut species are increasing day by day due to its contribution to food and nutrition, ecosystem and environment sustainability and empowerment of livelihoods. Since most of these fruit and nut crops are perennial trees species, the conservation of these tree species in the centre of origin and or centre of genetic diversity is essential for its continued evolution. Their conservation requires understanding which leads to their effective utilization in plant improvement, both for productivity and quality traits. However, the regions that host genetic diversity are threatened by loss of habitat, vandalism, urbanization, industrialization and modernization of agricultural practices. Hence requires serious conservation efforts, both
ex situ and
in situ.
Several fruit and nut species are semi-wild and domestication of these tree species helps to inculcate a secondary or tertiary gene pool and evolved for a new set of genome adapted for the agro ecological condition and biotic/abiotic stresses. Apparent lack of diversity in many modern cultivars can seriously limit our capacity to breed for both qualitative and quantitative traits. A better understanding of domestication acrossmany crop species may provide crucial information that may be needed to breed better fruit and nut crops for the future. Even then, the limited access to genetic diversity among the tree species creates an urgent need for exploration, evaluation and conservation. Conservation of genetic resources through complementary approaches will provide a sustainable and evolution friendly strategies. Utilization of these genetic resources, directly or indirectly (including in breeding programme) will improve the economic and social status of several communities, this will inturn contribute to the national social, cultural and economic betterment. The knowledge about the tree crop, its origin, diversity, distribution, taxonomy and botany will help the breeder to choose the appropriate parent and breeding strategy. Breeding of perennial fruit species is a long-term activity involving a high investment as compared to annual crops due to two challenges: long juvenile periods and large plant size. Despite these difficulties, breeding programmes have been developed in all important perennial fruit crops, aimed at the improved economic profitability of the crops by increasing yields, altering the harvest window, creating new fruit types, and improving fruit quality while simplifying management. The recent increase in activity has been encouraged by the integration of the intellectual property rights (IP rights) in fruit production which has created substantial research incentive in private and public spheres for innovation in the fruit industry.
This volume will be useful in fruit and nut genetic resources conservation and its effective utilization to breed improved crop cultivars. It should provide as a springboard for all fruit breeders desiring an update on the latest technologies, horticulturalists who wonder what is being done in fruit breeding.
Dr V. Ramanatha Rao, a PhD in Genetics and Plant Breeding from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He started his work on genetic resources of groundnut at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT, 1976-1989) and established the largest groundnut/peanut, including its wild relatives (Arachis spp.)genetic resources collection and assisted in in their utilization for its improvement.Later he we worked at the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IBPGR/IPGRI),presently the Bioversity International, Rome (1989-2007). Dr Rao has worked on various aspects of plant genetic resources conservation and utilization of different crop and forestry species, initially at global level and later more specifically focusing on plant genetic resources of the Asia, Pacific and Oceania. He was Honorary Research Fellow with Bioversity International during 2008-2014. During his long years of work on plant genetic resources, he has enriched the knowledge base on plant genetic diversity; conservation and use methods of tropical fruits, underutilized crops, forest genetic resources;ex situ and in situ (on-farm) conservation; use of plant genetic resources for improving livelihoods of rural poor; use of modern technologies for genetic diversity studies; enhancement of utilization of conserved germplasm and human resource development projects/activities.In addition, he helped in either establishing or improving national plant genetic resources programmes in several countries in Asia and trained several researchers. He has over 300 publications, including several book chapters and edited books. He continues to give guest lectures and edits manuscripts for severalinternational peer reviewed journals. Areas of Expertise: Agriculture, Plant Genetic Resources, Agrobiodiversity
Dr. P.E.Rajasekharan is a Principal Scientist at the ICAR Indian Institute of Horticultural Research Bangalore. Dr. Rajasekharan completed his PhD in in vitro conservation of threatened medicinal plants at the Department of Botany, Bangalore University and is known for his contributions to the area of Plant Genetic Resources, i.e. in vitro conservation and cryopreservation of horticultural crops. Also holding 3 Post graduate Diploma one in Intellectual Property Rights from National Law School of India University and Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management from Indira Gandhi National Open University (New Delhi) and another Postgraduate diploma in Ecology and environment from Indian Institute of Ecology, New Delhi. He supervised 20 M. Pharm students of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. He also written many review articles and book chapters. He participated in various national and international symposia and seminars. In addition, he has developed globally applicable cryopreservation protocols for the conservation of nuclear genetic diversity (NGD) in pollen of important vegetable, ornamental and endangered medicinal species. He also worked on conservation of threatened medicinal plants and established Field Gene Bank for the same. He currently teaches courses on Plant Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture. Dr. Rajasekharan has more than 200 articles and two books to his credit. He is an expert reviewer for several international peer-reviewed journals, and sits on the editorial board of several journals. He is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources and Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy.
