BP Singh

IIPromising Introductions and Prioritize Needs forExotic Germplasm of Grain Legumes, Fibre Cropsand Under Utilized Crop PlantsR.V. SinghIntroductionExchange of economic pl~.nts is' a prerequisite for embarkingon any crop improvement programme and also for introducingnew crops from one part of the world to another part. Coffee, anative of south east Africa reached India through Saudi Arabia,Solanum tuberosum, Nicotiana tabacum an~ Lycopersicon esculentumall native to South America were introduced in India during early10th century and Trifolium alexandrium used as a green legumefodder in India was introduced in the early years of this centuryfrom Egypt. More recently, new crops like soybean (Glycine max)rich in protein and oil, introduced from USA; sunflower (Helianthusannuus) rich in oil introduced from USSR and USA; jojoba(Simmondsia chinensis) from USA, Chinese gooseberry (Actinidiachinensis) from New Zealand and many others. Therefore, lookingat the importance of exotic introductions, a brief account of recentpromising introductions of different legumes, fibre and underutilized crops with their futUre needs and priorities is presentedin this paper for information and further utilization in the country.Grain LegumesThe grain legum~s constitute a group of major crops such aschickpea, pigeonpea, cowpea, black gram, green gram, lentil,soybean, french bean, horse g!am, faba bean, and others like rice