Germplasm conservation and evaluation of selected medicinal Herb - Nigella sativa L.
2005
Iqbal, M.S. (Quaid-i-Azam Univ., Islamabad (Pakistan). Dept. of Biological Sciences)
Medicinal plants are in use from centuries as household remedies both in rural and urban areas. Day by day their demand is increasing due to low prices and no harmful effects as compared to allopathic medicines, which have high prices and severe side effects. Considering local market demands a project was launched at Plant Genetic Resources Program to introduce medicinal herbs and spices as crops at farmer's field. A study was conducted on a collection of precious germplasm of Nigella sativa (31 genotypes) collected from various agro- ecological areas of Pakistan. Germplasm evaluation and characterization data were recorded to develop appropriate production technology and post harvest processing techniques for their cultivation at farmer's field. High level of biodiversity was observed in the germplasm under study. In N. sativa five genotypes were selected by their performance to particular traits and suggested for future use in hybridization and breeding programs and for cultivation at farmer's fields. Four genotypes of N. sativa (MP00007, MP00013, MP00022 and MP00024) were also selected on yield basis after two years evaluation at farmer's field. Cluster analysis revealed 5 clusters in N. sativa. Maximum diversity was present in cluster 3 and 5 (15 and 6 genotypes) in N. sativa germplasm. There was no parallelism between clustering pattern and geographic origin. Although there are still many constraints in marketing of these herbs in the country. But their domestication and cultivation on larger scale may increase income of small landholders and as a raw material may bridge the existing gap of Pakistan's import (US$ 31.0 million) and export (US$ 6.0 million) bills of these useful herbs.
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