ICAR-NBPGR RS, Thrissur

The NBPGR Regional Station functioning since 1977 at Vellanikkara (Latitude 10^o 31’ N, Longitude 76^o 17’ E altitude 40 m above MSL with annual rainfall around 3000 mm), Thrissur is responsible for plant genetic resources related activities in the south western peninsular region of India comprising southern Western Ghats in the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa and the Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) Islands.

Mandate crops

Agriculture crops: Rice, Horsegram, Sesame and wild species of Cajanus, Oryza, Sesamum and Vigna

Horticultural crops: Fruits: Jackfruit, Mango

Vegetables: Ash gourd, Bitter gourd, Leafy amaranth, Okra, Pumpkin, Yams and wild species of Abelmoschus, Cucumis, Dioscorea, Momordica,Solanum and Trichosanthes

Spices: Black pepper, Kokum and Malabar tamarind and wild species of Cinnamomum, Curcuma, Piper and Zingiber

Economically important plants: Medicinal & Aromatic plants: Alpinia calcarata, A. galanga, Bacopa monnieri, Caesalpinia sappan, Kaempferia galanga, K. rotunda, Protasparagus racemosus, Piper longum, Zingiber montanum and Z. zerumbet

Germplasm Exploration and Collection

From 1978-2016, a total of 237 exploration missions was executed based on the crop priorities fixed from time to time, independently or in collaboration with ICAR/ SAU/ International institutes. Ten exploration trips in collaboration with International Institutes namely ICRISAT (3 trips), CSIRO (1), IRRI (2) and IBPGR (4) were carried out.  The other national collaborators (ICAR institutes/ SAUs) were ANGRAU, CARI, CPCRI, CTCRI, IIHR, IIPR, IISR, KAU, NRC Banana, SBI, TNAU and UAS-B. So far, 29148 samples were collected from 115 missions conducted during the pre-NATP-PB period, 57 NATP-PB missions and 65 post-NATP-PB missions, of which 696 samples were from A&N Islands, 146 from Andhra Pradesh, 60 from Arunachal Pradesh, 203 from Assam, 2 from Daman & Diu, 2 from Delhi, 237 from Goa, 71 from Gujarat, 4319 from Karnataka, 14481 from Kerala, 106 from Lakshadweep Islands, 117 from Madhya Pradesh, 94 from Maharashtra, 2 from Meghalaya, 156 from Mizoram, 177 from Nagaland, 16 from Pondicherry, 29 from Sikkim, 7989 from Tamil Nadu, 101 from Tripura, 5 from Uttar Pradesh, 34 from West Bengal and 105 samples from Nepal.

Herbarium

In all 2803 herbarium specimens have been accessioned and are being maintained at the Station. Ninety two accessions of various Vigna species comprising Vigna dalzelliana (15 accessions), V.glabrescens (1), V.hainiana (13), V.mungo var. mungo (2), V.mungo var.sylvestris (15), , V.radiata var. radiata (5), V.radiata var. setulosa (2), V.radiata var. sublobata (15), V.trilobata (14), V.trinervia var. bourneae (7), V.umbellata (wild) (1), V. unguiculata (1) and V.vexillata (2); 15 accessions of Abelmoschus species compring A. enbeepeegearensis (1), A. crinitus (1), A. tetraphyllus var. tetraphyllus (1), A. tetraphyllus var. pungens (1), A. angulossus var. grandiflorus (6), A. tuberculatus (3), A. moschatus subsp.. moschatus; 11 accessions of Cucumis species comprising C. sativus var. hardwickii (8) and C. melo var. agrestis (3) were deposited in BSI, Kolkata. A complete set of mounted herbarium sheets of all the identified taxa of Vigna (242 sheets in 16 taxa), Abelmoschus (207 sheets in 12 taxa) and Cucumis (229 sheets in 16 taxa) were prepared and added to the holdings at NBPGR RS, Thrissur

New Taxa Described: Six taxa new to science namely, Abelmoschus enbeepeegearensis, Curcuma karnatakensis, C. kudagensis, Momordica sahyadrica, Piper psuedonigrum and Vigna konkanensis have been described from the region by the scientists of the station.

New Reports Made: New reports of extended distribution of the species Curcuma albiflora, C. oligantha and Vigna dalzelliana were made from the region. Taxonomic status of Cucumis callosus as a sub-species of Cucumis melo and C. setosus as a valid species distinct from C. sativus was established.

Unique Collections Made:

• Coloured rice/red rice landraces of West Coast - 508 accessions
• Medicinal/Njavara rice of Kerala - 15 accs. (Njavara, Chenellu, Jeerakachembavu, Kunjinellu)
• Saline tolerant/ Pokkali rice landraces – 37 accs. (Anakomban, Pokkali, Orkaima, Ormundakan)
• Upland direct seeded rice – 42 accs. (Keeripallan, Erinellu, Ambaladan, Boothakali, Karakozhivalan etc.)
• Wild and semi-domesticated bitter gourds: Rudraksha, Hagali, Methipavai, Karandakappaval (81 accs.)
• Poly-embryonic mango landraces – Muvandan, Vattan, Tholikaypan, Kotturkonam, Puliyan, Kilichundan, Kochukilichundan, Priyur, Kolambu, Vellari, Nambiar Manga, Chandrakaran
• Fruit variability in oriental pickling melon – Cucumis melo var. conomon
• Medicinal ash gourd: Neykumbalam
• Variability in Chinese spinach (220 accessions), multicut leafy amaranth, dual purpose vegetable cum ornamental, deep magenta coloured leaves, late flowering type, small leaf bushy type (Aarakeera), green and magenta red livid amaranthus
• Slicing cucumber (23 accessions), dark green, ivory white, cooking types
• Coloured okra, West Coast landraces (170 accessions)
• Variability in horsegram (532 accessions)
• Fruit length and colour variability in  snake gourd (58 accessions)
• Burmese Fish-tail Palm (Caryota mitis) - dwarf ornamental/multipurpose palm collected from A&N Islands
• Chop-chopa (Garcinia kydia), a good monsoon season fruit comparable to mangosteen
• Sweet gourd (Momordica cochinchinensis) – from A&N Islands – a potential vegetable for popularisation
• Teasel gourd (Momordica subangulata subsp. renigera) - a potential bitter-less gourd vegetable from A&N Islands
• Kokum (Garcinia indica) variability - a potential tree oil seed and multi-purpose fruit
• Malabar tamarind (Garcinia cambogia) variability
• Fruit length variability in drumstick (Moringa oleifera)
• Brinjal (Solanum melongena) - field tolerant lines to shoot and fruit borer
• Variability in cultivated bitter gourd
• Species diversity in wild edible and less cultivated fruits of Western Ghats
• Crop wild relatives in the genera Abelmoschus (156 accessions), Amorphophallus (19), Artocarpus (3), Cucumis (43), Curcuma (71), Dioscorea (106), Garcinia (6), Momordica (89), Moringa (1), Oryza (41), Piper (61), Sesamum (64), Solanum (153), Trichosanthes (26), Vigna (307) and Zingiber (10 accessions)

Ethnic Tribes Contacted: Twenty-four tribes among the states of Kerala (11), Karnataka (7), Goa (2) and Tamil Nadu (4) were contacted during exploration missions for collection of landraces and ethnobotanical information on traditional crops as detailed below:

• Kerala: Malapulayar, Malavedar, Uraali (Idukki); Kurichiyar (Kannur, Wyanad); Kadar, Malamalasar, Malasar (Palakkad); Kanikkar (Thiruvanathapuram); Muthuvan, Vannan (Thrissur); Malayar (Wayanad)
• Karnataka: Aikar (Shimoga); Golluru (Tumkur); Goral (Belgaum); Gawali, Sidhi (Uttara Kannada); Naik (Chitradurga); Sholiga (Chamrajnagar)
• Tamil Nadu: Irula, Kota, Kurumba (Nilgiris); Malaivasy (Namakkal)
• Goa: Kulmi and Gowli (South Goa)

New Areas Explored: Several areas were explored for the first time namely Havloc, Hutbay, Katchal, Kamorta, North Andaman, Middle Andaman and South Andaman in Andaman & Nicobar Islands; Muthikulam forest of Palakkad dt., Kerala; six inhabited islands of Lakshadweep; Siriyur area of Trichy dt., Tamil Nadu; Indira Gandhi Wild Life Sanctuary and Parambikulam Wild Life Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu and  Yelagiri and Javadu hills of Tamil Nadu.

Special Missions Undertaken: Seven special missions were organized to Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve forest (3 trips), Silent Valley National Park of Kerala (2) and Indira Gandhi Wild Life Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu (2) were undertaken during the year 2000-2001. In total 413 accessions comprising wild relatives of crop plants and other economic species were collected.

Special Mission to Andaman & Nicobar Islands: A special mission involving scientists from IISR, CPCRI, CTCRI, SBI and NBPGR was conducted to A & N group of Islands and 107 accessions (coconut-11, spices and condiments-6, tubers-13, sugarcane-1, wild sugarcane-7, wild relatives of tubers and spices-48 and other economically important species-20) were collected.

Special Missions to Tsunami Affected Areas:  Two special missions one each to tsunami affected areas of southern Tamil Nadu (2005) and Kerala (2005) were conducted and 26 accessions were collected.

Germplasm Characterization and Evaluation

So far, 4116 accessions of field crops comprising rice (3205accessions) and horse gram (911), 1341 of horticultural crops comprising Chinese spinach (91), Amaranthus blitum (8), A. graecizans (2), A. dubius (15), bitter gourd (15), Chinese potato (33), field bean (47), Mucuna pruriens (15), okra (863), brinjal (174), snake gourd (49), taro (134), elephant foot yam (35), ginger (40), black pepper (85), lesser yam (65)  and turmeric (426) were characterised. One hundred and ninety-seven accessions of okra and 7 of taro were evaluated under multi-location evaluation along with crop based institutes. A total of 293 accessions of wild relatives of crop plants comprising Curcuma aeruginosa (31), C. amada var. amada (41), C. amada var. glabra (8), C. aromatica (14), C. caesia (5), C. zanthorrhiza (47), Solanum incanum (23), S. insanum (51), Trichosanthes cucumerina  (15), T. lobata (4), Vigna trinervia var. bourneae  (3), V. dalzelliana (18), V. marina (1), V. mungo var. sylvestris  (7), V. pilosa (1), V. radiata var. sublobata (3) and V. trilobata  (21) were also characterised. Among the perennial horticultural crops, 49 accessions of jackfruit, 24 of Malabar tamarind, 9 of kokum and 40 of mango were also characterised.

New initiatives

Bird’s eye Chilli (Capsicum frutescens): Eleven samples collected from North-Eastern region and parts of Kerala were sown for initial seed multiplication, further evaluation.

Khoon phal (Haematocarpus validus): A wild gathered edible fruit having potential as natural food colorant was received from CARI, Andaman Islands and established in the nursery. Its seeds are recalcitrant but have dormancy of 2 months.

Scarlet egg plant/ Gilo (Solanum aethiopicum): Solanum aethiopicum is a vegetable cultivated in North-Eastern region for its bitter fruits having hypolipidemic properties. Three samples collected from North Eastern region were sown and seeds multiplied for further evaluation and popularisation in this region.

Yard long bean (Vigna unguiculata var. sesquipedalis): Thirty-three samples of vegetable cowpea collected from North-Eastern region were characterised for 2 qualitative and 8 quantitative traits and multiplied seeds kept for further evaluation and accessioning.

Success stories

Aloe vera: Non-bitter vegetable type of Aloe vera (IC333202) brought from NBPGR RS, Jodhpur was found well adapted in Thrissur, Kerala.

Cluster bean: Eleven accessions of vegetable type cluster bean were evaluated for adaptability to humid tropic climate prevailing in Kerala. Collection No. NKD 52 recorded highest pod weight/plant (450 g) followed by NKD 54 (353 g), PNB (220.88 g) and IC040021 (212.70 g). Highest pod length (13.5 cm), pod width (1.3 cm) and pod weight (6.512 g) were also recorded in NKD 52.

Caryota mitis. Caryota mitis called Burmese fish tail palm/ cluster fish tail palm (IC553772) collected from Andaman Islands in 2007 was multiplied. The palms are dwarf and multiple clump forming coming to bearing on 4th year and producing over 10 bunches. By virtue of their dwarf habit they can be well exploited for neera tapping and as cultivated fodder for elephants. Seeds are available for distribution to user agencies under MTA.

Germplasm Conservation

MTS: In total, 8919 accessions belonging to 18 genera and 114 species in 27 crops, 23 medicinal plants and 78 wild relatives are conserved in MTS facility.

Field Gene Bank: A total of 1862 accessions in 119 species belonging to 44 genera are being maintained in field and pots under the shade, net and poly houses. This includes spices (473 accessions), tubers (282), medicinal plants (450), dye yielding plants (60), fruits (199), wild relatives (364) and vegetables (6).

LTS: A total of 16830 accessions were sent for long-term storage and 1564 accessions to MTS facility for medium term storage at NBPGR, New Delhi. In addition to these, 4257 accessions received from other co-operators were also sent to Germplasm Conservation Division for LTS/MTS. For in vitro conservation/ cryo-preservation, 2182 accessions were sent. Pollen of 9 species of Abelmoschus, 8 of Vigna, 2 of Momordica and 8 of various medicinal plants were deposited in cryo-bank.

Germplasm Exchange

Germplasm receipt: A total of 19656 accessions in 145 genera were received from 48 different sources for further maintenance, seed multiplication and evaluation.

Germplasm transfer to crop-based institutes: In all, 2194 accessions of different crops were transferred to crop-based institutes such as ICAR-CISH, Lucknow, UP (67); ICAR-CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (1247); ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, Karnataka (28); ICAR-IISR, Kozhikode, Kerala (556); ICAR-DMAPR, Anand, Gujarat (5) and ICAR-NRCB, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu  (291).

Supply to user agencies: Under material transfer agreement (MTA), supplied 21655 accessions to various user agencies comprising ICAR institutes (6369), SAUs (12555) and other institutions (2731). A total of 2358 accessions were transferred to the NAGS for maintenance and utilization.

Supply for multi-location evaluation: Supplied 1300 accessions comprising 800 of horse gram (100 each from 2005 to 2013) to 3 institutions under the National Network Research Project on Arid Legumes; 500 (100 in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 in 2011) of okra in 7 sets to ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi under the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Vegetable Crops.

Supply for Chemical Evaluation at NBPGR, New Delhi: Supplied 1032 accessions of different crops to Germplasm Evaluation Division, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi and ICAR-CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram for chemical analysis.

Technology developed/ transferred etc.

Seven varieties of vegetables were released by Kerala Agricultural University based on germplasm supplied by NBPGR. 

Brinjal (Solanum melongena): Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture (KAU), Vellanikkara has released a brinjal variety, “NEELIMA”, an F₁ hybrid between ‘Surya’ x NIC014090 (NBPGR), through heterosis breeding in 1998.
Areas of adaptation: Central zone of Kerala
Characteristic feature: High yield potential, resistant to bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum
Collection source of NIC014090 (NBPGR):  Nedumangad, Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala.

Chinese potato (Plectranthus rotundifolius): RARS (KAU), Pattambi has released a new variety of Chinese potato namely, “NIDHI” through clonal selection from the original collection, IC085708 (NBPGR) in 2000. The underground tuber of this plant is pleasantly aromatic and is a short duration vegetable crop in Kerala, parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa. “Nidhi” is the leading variety in Kerala now.
Areas of adaptation: Central zone of Kerala
Characteristic feature: High yield potential, large tubers, good cooking quality
Collection source of IC085708 (NBPGR): Northern Kerala

Greater yam (Dioscorea alata): One of the greater yam collections, IC44209 (NBPGR), has been released through clonal selection as a new variety “INDU” for intercropping in coconut groves by RARS (KAU), Kumarakom, Kottayam, Kerala in 1997.
Areas of adaptation: Reclaimed alluvial soils of Kuttanad, Alapuzha, Kerala
Characteristic feature: Shade tolerant variety with 8 months duration
Collection source of IC044209 (NBPGR): Kothamangalam, Ernakulam, Kerala

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus): Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture (KAU), Vellanikkara has released a new variety of red okra namely, “ARUNA” based on pure line selection from the original collection, IC218870 (NBPGR) in 2000. This is rich in anthocyanins and valued as health food.
Areas of adaptation: Central zone of Kerala
Characteristic feature: High yield potential, attractive red colour long fruit rich in anthocyanin
Collection source of IC218870 (NBPGR): Mudimar, Manjeswaram, Kasaragod District, Kerala

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus): Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture (KAU), Vellanikkara has released a new variety of okra namely, “SALKEERTHI” based on re selection from the original collection, IC470862 (NBPGR) in 2000. It is one of the leading varieties in Kerala used in home garden cultivation.
Areas of adaptation: Central zone of Kerala
Characteristic feature: High yield potential, attractive light green long fruit.
Collection source of IC470862 (NBPGR): Kerala

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus): College of Agriculture (KAU), Vellayani has released a new variety of okra namely, “MANJIMA” through hybridization between Gowreesapattom Local x IC282257 (NBPGR) in 2007.
Areas of adaptation: Central zone of Kerala
Characteristic feature: This variety is high-yielding (1.34 kg/plant), compact, early maturing and YMV resistant.
Collection source of IC282257 (NBPGR): Kerala

Yard-long Bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis): Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture (KAU), Vellanikkara has released a variety, “KAIRALI”, on the basis of pure line selection from IC045415 (NBPGR) in 2000.
Areas of adaptation: Central zone of Kerala
Characteristic feature: Resistant to Mosaic disease
Collection source of IC045415 (NBPGR): Tamil Nadu

Registration of Genetic Stocks

Based on the evaluation / characterisation of germplasm, six accessions with unique traits were registered as follows:

1. Malabar tamarind (Garcinia cambogia), IC244100-2 (INGR No.04061) and IC244111-1 (INGR No.04062) for early bearing (6 and 7 years after planting, respectively) in 2004.
2. Kokum (Garcinia indica), IC136687-3 (INGR No.04063) is high yielding in number of fruits (2898 per year) in 2004.
3. Greater galangal (Alpinia galanga) accession IC349746 (INGR No. 08107) for highest 1,8–cineole (72.49%) in 2008.
4. Lesser galangal (Alpinia calcarata) accession IC210421 (INGR No. 09051) for high 1,8–cineole (37.21%)  and frenchyl acetate (19.87%) in 2009.
5. Black pepper (Piper nigrum) IC266417 (INGR10065) for its oval shaped berries in 2010.

Field Days organized

Fifteen field days were conducted in crops and crop wild relatives involving SAUs, ICAR institutes and students.

Tribal Agro-biodiversity Fairs

Two Tribal Agro-Bio-diversity Fairs were conducted, the first at Attapady, Palakkad district on March 29, 2012 concentrating on Muthuva, Irula and Kurumba tribes and the second at Kannavam forest, Kannur district on March 31, 2012 concentrating on Agro-biodiversity of Kurichaya tribe.

Human Resource Development

As a part of PGR awareness generation, 4 biodiversity fairs including two in tribal areas, 6 grass-root level trainings (3 for women farmers) were conducted. Three orientation trainings and 2 general training with special emphasis on wild relatives were also conducted for the co-operating centres and SAUs under NATP-PB. PGR conservation awareness was generated among the farming community in Kerala through 5 grass-root level trainings covering 3 districts benefiting 372 male and 312 women farmers and among college students through biodiversity fairs and seminars conducted in 2 colleges benefiting 4335 students.
Three on job-short training under HRD on PGR management under NATP in ToE mode was conducted and 10 scientists from SAUs were benefited. Tissue culture training was imparted to 9 M. Sc. students.

Research publications (346)

9.1  Research Papers                            : 140
9.2  Seminar/ Symposium Presentations :  89
9.3  Book chapters                                :  25
9.4  Books/ Booklets                             :  17
9.5  Catalogue/Scientific Monographs     :  07
9.6  Technical Bulletins                         :  11
9.7  Popular Articles                             :  57

1. Dr. Joseph John was awarded Dr. RK Arora Best Paper Award 2008 of the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources for the paper entitled “Occurrence, distribution and ex situ regeneration of Balsam apple (Momordica balsamina L.) in India” published in the Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources, 2008.. 21 (1) 51 – 54. 
2. Dr. Joseph John co-authored  Dr. R.K Arora Best Paper Award 2010 of the Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resources for the paper entitled “Floristic Diversity of Potential Horticultural Plants in Bay Islands of India” (TVRS Sharma, V Jayakumar, TC Shyju, S Rajalakshmi, KN Ganeshiah, K Joseph John and RC Srivasthava 2010, Indian J. Plant. Genet. Resources 23 (2): 199 – 205 (which is based on the field survey conducted in the Islands in 2008).
3. Dr. Joseph John K and Dr. NK Dwivedi were recognized as Journal Reviewer (since 2004) of Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, a journal published by NISCAIR (CSIR).
4. Best Poster Paper Award under the theme on ‘Conservation and Utilisation of the PGR’ was awarded to the poster on “Genetic Resources of Wild Vigna Species – A Treasure House for Broadening the Genetic Base in Cultivated Vignas” authored by Latha M, Nissar VAM, Roy YC, Bhat KV and S Mani in the National Symposium on “Crop Improvement for Inclusive Sustainable Development” at PAU, Ludhiana, Punjab during November 2014.

• Collection of germplasm comprising landraces and wild relatives of crops from southern Western Ghats, West Coast and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and documentation of passport information
• Characterisation of germplasm of Rice, Horsegram, Sesame, Jackfruit, Mango, Ash gourd, Bitter gourd, Leafy amaranth, Okra, Pumpkin, Yams, Black pepper, Kokum and Malabar tamarind, wild species of Abelmoschus, Amaranthus, Cajanus, Cinnamomum, Cucumis, Curcuma, Dioscorea, Momordica, Oryza, Piper, Sesamum, Solanum, Trichosanthes, Vigna and Zingiber,  and other economically important species; and documentation of the generated data
• Ex situ conservation of germplasm of various crops and their wild relatives in the field gene bank/ seed gene bank and their deposit in the National Gene Bank in a phased manner
• Supply of germplasm to user agencies under Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)
• PGR awareness education to school and college students, farmers, general public and tribal communities
• Co-ordinating PGR activities in the Peninsular India with the active support of SAUs, State Biodiversity Boards, crop-based institutes of ICAR and State Department of Agriculture
• Utilization/ popularization of elite germplasm through information dissemination in the region like field days, exhibition, biodiversity fairs etc.
• Adaptability studies of new crops from varied agro-climatic zones