Core collections display a large fraction of the diversity contained in large collections in smaller germplasm panels. We used historical data collected at the World Vegetable Center, Taiwan, for developing soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) core collections representing the diversity of the whole collection of 7853 accessions held by the Center. The collection was split into two groups on the basis of the 100 seed weight: large seeded (>25 g or equal to 25 g) and small seeded (<25 g). The largeseeded group (vegetable soybean/edamame) comprised 456 accessions, while the small-seeded group contained 7397 accessions. Within these two groups, we developed core collections based on seven quantitative and 14 qualitative traits collected during the autumn season, resulting in a core collection of 112 large-seeded vegetable soybean accessions and 1480 accessions for the small-seeded types.

Production of phosphorus efficient genotypes in groundnut can improve and also reduces environmental pollution. Identification of P-efficient groundnut genotypes is a need of the hour to sustain in P-deficient soils. The pot experiment showed significant differences between genotypes (G) and treatments (T) for all the traits and G × T interaction for majority of traits. The G × T × Y interaction effects were also significant for all the traits except leaf P% (LP%), leaf acid phosphatase (LAP) and root dry weight (RDW). In lysimeter experiment, the effect of G, T and G × T were significant for leaf dry weight (LDW), stem dry weight (SDW), total transpiration (TT) and transpiration efficiency (TE). For traits, LDW, SDW, TT, TE, ICGV 00351 and ICGS 76; for SDW, TT, ICGV 02266 are best performers under both P-sufficient and deficient conditions. Based on P-efficiency indices and surrogate traits of P-uptake, ICGV’s 02266, 05155, 00308, 06040 and 06146 were considered as efficient P-responding genotypes. From GGE biplot, ICGV 06146 under P-deficient and TAG 24 under both P-sufficient and deficient conditions are portrayed as best performer. ICGV 06146 was identified as stable pod yielder and a promising genotype for P-deficient soils. The genotypes identified in this study can be used as a parent in developing mapping population to decipher the genetics and to devleop groundnut breeding lines suitable to P-deficient soils.

Forty-five African or Asian origin pearl millet populations bred either in Africa or Asia were investigated to generate information on heterotic pools. They were clustered into seven groups (G1 to G7) when genotyped, using 29 highly polymorphic SSRs. Fourteen parental populations representing these seven marker-based groups were crossed in diallel mating design to generate 91 population hybrids. The hybrids evaluated at three locations in India showed mean panmictic mid-parent heterosis (PMPH) and better-parent heterosis (PBPH) for grain yield ranging from − 21.7 to 62.08% and − 32.51 to 42.99%, respectively. Higher grain yield and heterosis were observed in G2 × G6 (2462 kg ha−1, 43.2%) and G2 × G5 (2455 kg ha−1, 42.8%) marker group crosses compared to the most popular Indian open-pollinated variety (OPV) ICTP 8203. Two heterotic groups, Pearl millet Population Heterotic Pool-1 (PMPHP-1) comprising G2 populations and Pearl millet Population Heterotic Pool-2 (PMPHP-2) comprising G5 and G6 populations, were identified based on hybrid performance, heterosis and combining ability among marker group crosses. Population hybrids from two heterotic groups, PMPHP-1 × PMPHP-2 demonstrated PMPH of 14.75% and PBPH of 6.8%. Populations of PMPHP-1 had linkages with either African or Asian origin populations, whereas PMPHP-2 composed of populations originating in Africa and later bred for Asian environments. Results indicated that parental populations from the two opposite heterotic groups can be used as base populations to derive superior inbred lines to develop high yielding hybrids/cultivars.

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Pearl millet is an important food and fodder crop cultivated in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia, and is now expanding to other regions for forage purpose. This study was conducted to better understand the forage quantity and quality traits to enhance the feed value of this crop. Two sets of pearl millet hybrids (80 single cross hybrids in Set-I and 50 top cross hybrids in Set-II) along with their parents evaluated multi-locationally for the forage-linked traits under multi-cut (two cuts) system revealed significant variability for the forage traits in the hybrids and parents. The mean better parent heterosis (BPH) for total dry forage yield (TDFY) was 136% across all the single cross hybrids and 57% across all the top cross hybrids. The mean BPH for in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) varied from −11 to 7% in the single cross hybrids and −13 to 11% in the top cross hybrids across cuts. The findings of TDFY and IVOMD heterosis in these sets indicated the potential of improvement of the hybrid cultivars for forage quantity and quality in forage pearl millet. The parental lines single cross parent (SCP)-L02, SCP-L06, and top cross parent (TCP)-T08 found superior in the forage quantity and quality traits can be utilized in the future breeding programs. Most of the forage traits were found to be controlled by using the non-additive gene action. A diverse panel of 105 forage-type hybrid parents (Set-III) genotyped following genotyping by sequencing (GBS) and phenotyped for crude protein (CP) and IVOMD under multi-cuts for 2 years identified one stable significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on LG4 for CP, and nine SNPs for IVOMD distributed across all the linkage groups except on LG2. The identified loci, once validated, then could be used for the forage quality traits improvement in pearl millet through marker-assisted selection.