Utilization of wild arachis species at ICRISAT

One of the possibilities for increasing the yield of groundnut , particularly in the Semi -Arid Tropics, is breeding varieties wi th resistance to pests and diseases. Some progress has been made in this field, but the improvements that can be made by breeders are limited by the availability of genes wi thin A. hypogaea. Collect ions of wild species from South America have made available a wider range of genes, especially genes for disease resistance. The richness of Arachis germplasm collection offers a great opportunity for anyone interested in the improvement of this crop (Bunting et al. 1974, Simpson 1976; Smartt et a I. 1978a, b; Gregory and Gregory 1979)