Exploration, Collection and Characterization of Kala zeera (Bunium persicum Boiss. Fedtsch.) Germplasm from North-Western Himalayas

Abstract

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.

Genome editing to re-domesticate and accelerate use of barley crop wild relatives

“…Wide adoption of modern cultivars, which perform to a satisfactory degree across different environments, further leads to genetic erosion within farmer fields, through the planting of monocultures over large areas of land and displacement of landraces (Khoury et al, 2022). Recognizing the importance of novel material in breeding programs, collections of germplasm started to be established in the late-19th century (Hay et al, 2021) and efforts continue to collect both cultivated and CWR germplasm (Eastwood et al, 2022;Khan et al, 2022).…”