Fluctuation in Groundnut annual production and productivity is a common phenomenon. One of the reasons for this appears to be the sensitive behaviour of the available varieties to variable environmental growing conditions. In this book, methodologies to develop varieties which perform consistently over environments and possess high level of pod yield have been described. The work on salt tolerance and tolerance to effluent toxicity have been indicated. What has been achieved in the breeding for oil content and protein are narrated.
Early maturity is an important trait, especially to suit rainfed situations, crop sequence and scarce irrigation sources. Fresh seed dormancy is another valuable character in Spanish and Valencia groups of varieties to save the productivity loss incurred due to sprouting in situ of mature pods in the pre-harvest stage. Breeding methodologies and achievements made in these directions have been dealt in detail.
One of the main reasons for the low productivity of groundnut in India is the prevalence of abiotic stresses such as drought (moisture stress), salinity (salt stress) and nutrient stress (nutrient deficiency). Breeding approaches to develop varieties which are resistant to drought, salinity and tolerance to nutrient deficiency have been furnished with technical details.
Cultivated Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is susceptible to many insect pests and diseases which cause serious yield loss. Wild species of groundnut were found to be potential sources of resistance for these maladies inter-specific hybridization, breeding for resistance to insects, namatodes and diseases are the other areas covered in addition to induced mutation that lead to identification of genotypes with large size kernels, high yield and oil content.
Biotechnology and molecular biology is an innovative field of research and updated information has been provided in the last chapter, which also includes genetic engineering.
The breeding approaches outlined in various chapters are certain to give exposure to newer and latest techniques available for genetic improvement of this all important oil seed crop. Thus, the technological gap that has been experienced earlier is expected to be filled leading to a realistic break through in productivity. |
