Diversity of Garden Pea Germplasm in North India

Genetic variability is an essential prerequisite for crop improvement programme for obtaining high yielding varieties. The understanding of the association of characters is of prime importance in developing an efficient breeding programme. Garden pea is an important legume crop. Being a self-pollinated crop, the main focus of breeding in recent times was to develop pure lines which led to narrow genetic diversity among pea varieties. Knowledge of genetic diversity is a useful tool in gene bank management and in planning experiments, as it facilitates efficient sampling and utilization of germplasm by identifying and/or eliminating duplicates in the gene stock and helps in the establishment of core collections. In order to maintain, evaluate and utilize germplasm efficiently and effectively. This book provides a comprehensive study of genetic diversity of garden pea. We hope that the book will serve as an important resource material for those engaged in the task of improving and stabilizing pea product.