Designing Pigeonpea Genome for a Future-Ready Crop

Grown primarily by the smallholder farmers in tropical and subtropical regions, pigeonpea is pivotal to subsistence agriculture in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The last two decades have witnessed several research breakthroughs in pigeonpea. Following soybean, pigeonpea became the second food legume crop for which the whole genome sequence made available for use in genetic research and breeding. Since then, there have been tremendous efforts to develop and implement cutting-edge technologies for improving pigeonpea. These include genome sequencing of the wider germplasm sets, development of pangenome, mapping of economically important traits, multi-omics studies, and gene editing, among others. Given this, our book Designing Pigeonpea Genome for a Future-Ready Crop explores the current trends in pigeonpea research together with underscoring potential future directions and the challenges that lie ahead.

Features

• Presents the achievements of genomics research and molecular breeding of pigeonpea
• Provides current status of using wild relatives for pigeonpea improvement and optimized strategies to accelerate identification and incorporation of new genetic variation in breeding programs
• Presents the significance of mutation breeding in pigeonpea varietal improvement and future opportunities for integrating mutation-based techniques with cost-effective high-throughput approaches
• Discusses growing access to muti-omics datasets, pangenome diversity and genomic prediction studies and their relevance to future varietal development
• Demonstrates applications of generation advancement techniques such as speed breeding to accelerate breeding decisions and genetic gain in pigeonpea
• Follows the scope of brining heritable genetic changes for improving pigeonpea’s response to biotic and abiotic stresses through implementation of modern gene-editing methods

The different chapters in this book have been contributed by the experts in the field. The book will serve as a comprehensive and reliable source for researchers and academicians and inform policy decisions.

Abhishek Bohra is currently working as Senior Scientist at ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur, India. He has served as Principal Investigator for national hybrid breeding program for nearly a decade period. He has contributed towards the development of various pigeonpea hybrids and varieties. He has made contributions to develop new germplasm for pollen sterility trait for application in hybrid development and identification of promising genetic stocks that serve as donors for enhancing key breeding traits. Considering genomics- assisted breeding approach, he is associated with projects on developing novel experimental populations, identifying important genes/DNA markers associated with economically important traits and marker-assisted selection. His research work has resulted in publication of more than 150 research papers in journals of international repute. He is contributing to the scientific community and society by serving as Editor (Functional and Integrative Genomics, PLoS One, Crop Science, Heliyon, Plant Breeding, Functional Plant Biology and Plant Methods) and Reviewer to various international journals. He has a h-index of 44, with cumulative citation of over 7500. He is a recipient of Young Scientist medal of Indian National Science Academy (INSA), India and Associate Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), India.

Ashok Kumar Parihar has obtained his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. He is currently working as Senior Scientist in the Crop Improvement Division of ICAR- Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur and also associated as Principal Investigator of plant breeding program in All India Coordinated Research Project on Rabi Pulses. During his research career of more than 14 years, he has developed twelve high yielding multiple disease resistance field pea varieties suitable for different agro-climatic conditions. He has so far published more than 75 research papers in different national and international journals. He has also published 6 books, 35 book chapters, >100 popular articles and 10 technical bulletins. He has been honored with many prestigious awards including Associate of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), India and Fellow of Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding (ISGPB), India & Indian Society of Pulse Research and Development (ISPRD), India.

Girish Prasad Dixit is an eminent agricultural scientist with over 30 years of experience in pulses research and development. He received Ph.D. in 1993 from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He is current serving as Director at ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur, India. He has led Indian national chickpea programme as Project Coordinator for about eight years focusing on integrated breeding approaches for improving yield potential, improved tolerance to stresses, market-preferred grain traits, suitability to machine harvesting and modernization of programs through digitalization. He has led several international and national projects. He has developed 25 high yielding varieties of pulses. He has published more than 100 research papers and 25 book chapters, and edited five books.