Genetic Resources: Collection, Conservation, Characterization and Maintenance

Abstract Lentils are a high-value, nutritious legume crop cultivated worldwide. The unpredictable climate forecasts vis-a-vis lentil susceptibility to an array of biotic and abiotic stresses have far-reaching implications for yield enhancement in breeding programs. The knowledge pertaining to lentil genetic resources as well as evaluation, including assessment of variability by biochemical and molecular markers, gene introgression, and germplasm conservation has been well documented for broadening the genetic base of this crop. Germplasm enhancement approaches have also been demonstrated to study the variation among important traits of interests, namely, pods/plant, seeds/pod, number of clusters/plant, harvest index (%), biological yield, early maturity, etc. Although sincere efforts have also been made to characterize and evaluate various agro-morphological traits in a large number of lentil accessions including global wild accessions, for which remarkable variation was recorded. Furthermore, there is an immediate need to identify climate resilient traits in the existing lentil germplasm, including wild taxa and subsequent wide hybridization via modern biotechnological interventions, which will definitely reinforce lentil genetic resources for future crop improvement.