Large scale characterization of entire collection of linseed germplasm conserved at National Genebank, comprising 2700 accessions (single plant progenies) is being taken up at ICAR-NBPGR farm, IARI, New Delhi under research network project ‘Leveraging genetic resources for accelerated genetic improvement of linseed using comprehensive genomics and phenotyping approaches’. The accessions possess variability for various agro-morphological traits such as plant architecture, corolla colour, flower shape, petal aestivation, plant height, number of primary branches, flowering & maturity time, number of capsules per plant, etc. The characterization data will be utilized for development of core set in linseed germplasm representing diversity and representativeness of whole collection. Besides characterization, the whole set is also being screened against moisture scarcity under rainfed conditions wherein, a reference set will be developed for detailed evaluation under controlled conditions for drought tolerance. To have the real-time insights into field data, the possibility of use of Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV/drone) is also being explored for phenotyping of germplasm in these large-scale experiments.

(Source:  Dr. Vikender Kaur, Scientist (Sr. Scale) and Co-coordinator, Linseed Network Project, Division of Germplasm Evaluation, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi)