Kala zeera (Bunium persicum Boiss. Fedtsch.) is one of the most important spice crop in the world. A set of two hundred fifty two (252) diverse kala zeera germplasm accessions were collected during an exploration mission from hot-spot regions /hills dividing two neighboring countries (India-Pakistan) on line of control (LOC) and hills near line of actual control (LAC) with China. The crop grows wild in its natural habitat mainly in Gurez valley, Tulail, Kashtiwar, Keran, Machil Tangdhar, Machil, Drass, Paddar, Khrew, Char-e-Sharief, Pang, Lahaul spiti, Shaung, Bharmour and Almora hills of Indian Western Himalayas. The germplasm collected has been characterized for morpho-agronomic traits and the analysis of trait data revealed significant variability in number of branches plant-1, number of umbelets umbel-1, number of seeds plant-1, seed yield per plant and 1000 seed weight. The collection and characterization of 252 Kala zeera germplasm accessions can prove useful in future Kala zeera improvement programs in the world as this is first such comprehensive report of the crop from Western Himalayan region of India.

A study was conducted to collect and characterize the indigenous Kala zeera (Bunium persicum Boiss. Fedtsch.) accessions from the hills of northwestern Himalayan sates of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Around 1000 accessions were collected during this exploration mission, out of which diversity of 252 accessions was established through morphological characterization. The morpho-agronomic characterization and the analysis of trait data revealed significant variability in number of branches per plant, number of umbelets per umbel, number of seeds per plant, seed yield per plant and 1000 seed weight. The collection and characterization of these diverse accessions can prove useful in future Kala zeera improvement programmes in the world as this is the first such comprehensive report of the crop from northwestern Himalayan region of India.