Team of 19 scientists have re-sequenced the genome or DNA of 292 pigeon pea (arhar dal or tur dal) varieties that would help in development of better varieties of this crop and boost production.
A global team of 19 scientists from nine institutes have also discovered new traits such as resistance to various diseases that affect the crop.
The School of Agriculture and Environment and Institute of Agriculture (the University of Western Australia), Shenzhen Millennium Genomics (China), Institute of Biotechnology at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (Hyderabad), Agricultural Research Station (University of Agricultural Sciences, Karnataka), Visva-Bharati (Shantiniketan) and ICRISAT (Hyderabad) took part in the research.
This breakthrough will help develop superior varieties of this pulse crop and help farmers increase production.
An ICRISAT-led global team had decoded its DNA sequence in 2011.
Though a major source of protein, fiber, minerals and vitamins, pigeon pea yields have remained stagnant over the last six decades, with limited genetic diversity and genome information, required to develop better varieties.
This breakthrough will help us better understand the grain’s quality traits and unlock the huge potential of this crop and allow farmers access to high-value markets.