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