The Rajendra S. Paroda Genebank at ICRISAT, Patancheru,
India serves as a world repository for the ex situ collections of
five mandate crops: sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeonpea
and groundnut, beside six small millets (finger millet, foxtail
millet, little millet, kodo millet, proso millet, and barnyard millet).
With 119,074 accessions assembled from 144 countries, the
collection is currently the largest among the genebanks for these
crops. The collection includes 116,349 cultivated accessions
and 2,725 accessions of wild non-domesticated species. These
provide insurance against genetic erosion and good source of
tolerance to diseases and pests, beside improved grain quality
and yield. Several landraces conserved in the ICRISAT
genebank have already disappeared from their natural habitats
both in Africa and Asia.

Germplasm Collections in-trust 

A majority of the collections (96%) has been placed in-trust with
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations on behalf of the Governing Body of International Treaty
on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
(ITPGRFA), under the multilateral system and is available to
the world community using Standard Material Transfer
Agreement (SMTA). 

Germplasm Characterization, Evaluation and Regeneration 

Majority (96%) of the collection in the genebank has been
characterized for important morpho-agronomic traits. After
several years of detailed evaluation and screening for biotic,
abiotic stresses and for quality characteristics (by
multidisciplinary teams of ICRISAT and national program
scientists), new genetic stocks have been identified for use in
crop improvement. Germplasm has also been evaluated for
agronomic traits over locations jointly with NARS scientists in
Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Japan,
Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Thailand, Ukraine, USA and Vietnam.
The results have led to better understanding of the germplasm
conserved. Hundreds of such genetic stocks have already been
identified and are being used by NARS scientists throughout
the world.

Also, many national program scientists have been trained in
plant characterization. Regeneration is one of the most important
processes at the genebank. Germplasm samples for
conservation are multiplied mainly during the post-rainy season
(October-April) to get better quality seed. Genetic integrity is
maintained by pollination control while regenerating crosspollinating
crops such as sorghum, pearl millet, and pigeonpea. 

Germplasm Conservation 

The active collections are stored in standard aluminum cans
for all crops and in plastic cans for groundnut at 4°C and 30%
relative humidity. These active collections (kept for mediumterm
storage) are available for multiplication and distribution to
research collaborators. Base collections are kept for long-term,
solely for ‘posterity’, and are not drawn upon except for viability
testing and subsequent regeneration, if needed. These
collections are maintained at -20°C in vacuum packed standard
aluminum foil pouches at 3-7% seed moisture content,
depending on crop species and with initial seed viability above
85%. Base collections ensure long-term viability of material
(more than 50 years) as a backup to the active collection.
Germplasm accessions that do not produce adequate seed for
conservation (such as wild species of groundnut and pearl
millet), are maintained as live plants in a botanical garden and
in green houses. 

Ensuring Germplasm Safety 

ICRISAT Genebank is designed to withstand natural disasters.
For further safety, the base collection is duplicated in other
genebanks. Duplicates of a large portion of chickpea germplasm
are conserved at the International Center for Agricultural
Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria; and pearl
millet, groundnut and small millets at the ICRISAT Regional
Genebank, Niamey, Niger. The Nordic Gene Bank has invited
ICRISAT to deposit its in-trust seed collections at the Svalbard
Global Seed Vault (SGSV), Norway. ICRISAT proposed a 5 year
schedule to deposit about 111,000 germplasm seed samples
of its five mandate crops and six small millets. During 2008,
ICRISAT genebank has deposited 20,000 accessions of various
crops at SGSV. Dr. William D. Dar, Director General, ICRISAT
was part of the delegation that participated in the opening of
this global initiative.

Making a Long-Term Impact 

Rajendra S. Paroda Genebank has been highly successful in
assembling and conserving germplasm as part of the global
effort for the conservation of biodiversity for food security. The
greatest impact is in conserving the germplasm and making
diverse material readily available for use in crop improvement
globally, including the semi-arid tropics. ICRISAT’s Genetic
Resources Unit continues to assemble germplasm from
unexplored areas of diversity, and make it freely available for
use in crop improvement for the benefit of humankind. Also, for
overall sustainability of its program, ICRISAT has trained a large
number of scientists and technicians from developing countries
in Asia and Africa on germplasm collection, conservation,
characterization, evaluation and documentation. These trained
scientists are now helping their countries in conserving and
utilizing the genetic resources.
(Source: Hari D. Upadhyaya, C.L.L. Gowda and D.V.S.S.R.
Sastry, ICRISAT, Patancheru, India, [email protected])