RA 00015.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

G r o u n d n u t
The groundnut improvement program commenced
in April 1976 with research in breeding,
microbiology, pathology and virology, and
germplasm. In November a mycologist was
recruited and work started on screening techniques
for leafspot and rust fungi. In 1977 an
entomologist was recruited, and we anticipate
that by early 1978 physiological and cytogenetical
work will commence. Although much of the
year has been necessarily spent in organizing and
obtaining equipment, considerable progress has
been made - particularly in virology and obtaining
germplasm, in spite of strict quarantine
restrictions. Much of our disease-resistant material
has now been released from quarantine,
and we expect an increase in the tempo of the
breeding program.
ICRISAT's groundnut program aims to increase
the low yields (around 800 kg/ha or less) of
groundnuts obtained by small-scale farmers in
the SAT, mainly by incorporating resistance to
the prevalent diseases, such as leafspots and rust.
Physiology research will concentrate on identifying
sources of drought tolerance, because unreliable
rainfall patterns also contribute to low
yields.
Germplasm
The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources
(IBPGR) has nominated ICRISAT as a
major germplasm center for Arachis. Priority has
been given to assembling the extensive collections
of Arachis hypogaea already existing at
research stations in India. Thanks to the cooperation
of Indian institutions, we feel this task has
been largely accomplished during the past year.
Details of these collections are given in Table 43.
There will be many duplicates in this collection
and in rainy season 1977 the total collection will
be planted out according to botanical type to
help identify and eliminate duplicates. Systematic
controls to facilitate yield evaluation will
also be planted. Many of the accessions from
some centers do not have sufficient background
data on their pedigree or origin. The accession
registers at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic
Resources, New Delhi, were therefore searched
and all the information on groundnut imports
from 1947 to 1976 were extracted and published.
This will assist in relating original import numbers
(EC numbers) to local germplasm collections.
Collection of local material has also
8
7
Groundnut
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1975 1976 1977
Figure 44. Groundnut germplasm accessions at
ICRISAT Center.
Table 43. Accessions of A. hypogaea from research
centers in India.
Collection
No. Source Accessions
1 Kadiri 1097
2 Karimnagar 273
3 Ranchi 223
4 Jalgaon 245
5 Pantnagar 11
6 Rajasthan 58
7 Tindivanam
(AICORPO) 463
8 Junagadh 1159
9 Tindivanam (OES) 29
10 Coimbatore 29
11 Ludhiana 496
12 Akola 110
13 Amravati 160
14 Pollachi 297
15 Bombay (BARC) 9
16 Mahabaleshwar 4
117