BP Singh

IIPromising Introductions and Prioritize Needs ofExotic Germplasm : Cereals and MilletsMansoor KazimIntroductionCereals and millets are basic constituents in our dietaryhabits. The green revolution brought into the country with theintroduction of Mexican wheat and Taiwan paddy is wellrecognized. However, the scope of improvement of our. productionin these crops for home consumption and export is stj.ll restricted.In order to boost up this there is need for continued efforts forimproving the existing germplasm/ cultivars by introducing diversetype of materials as donors which could be profitably utilized inhybridization and crop improvement programmes.In order to provide high yielding, disease resistant, tolerantto both biotic and abiotic stresses, the division of GermplasmExchange at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources havebeen making all possible efforts, since 1976, inception of thisBureau, to import such mate'rials and distribute to researchers inthe country for utilization in thei.r research programmes. Theapproach is two way, one by scanning the world literature andpicking up promising materials for utilization in the country by theBureau and second by meeting the requests made by theresearchers, their specific need oriented. Thus, the decade afterNBPGR's creation (1976-85), 7,29,390 accessions, both germplasmand trial materials have been introduced. This activity has beencontinued since then and each year some 50-56,000 collections havebeen added bringing the total imports to 12,12,757 till end of 1994.