Plant introduction is the process oI importing new plants or cultivars oI well-established plants Irom the area oI

their adaptation to another area where their potential is evaluated Ior suitability Ior agricultural or horticultural use

First, the germplasm to be introduced is processed through a plant quarantine station at the entry port, to ensure that
no pest and diseases are introduced along with the desired material. Once this is accomplished, the material is
released to the researcher Ior evaluation in the Iield Ior adaptation. The Iundamental process oI plant introductions
as a plant breeding approach is acclimatization.

Features of Plant Introduction
1. pplication: It is an oldest method oI crop improvement. It can be used Ior any type plants
2. Usually plant introduction takes place between countries but sometime it may also include within country
introductions.
3. Means oI Introduction. Earlier, the introduction oI plants Irom one place to another used to be done by
travellers, traders, invaders and merchants. Now speciIic organization has been established Ior this work
(see later).
4. The plant material is obtained through expeditions, personal visit, correspondence, exchange oI material,
purchase or as a giIt.
5. The material oI seed propagated crops is introduction in the Iorm oI seed and that oI vegetatively
propogated crops in the Iorm oI cutting or propagules.
6. Sources oI introduction. There are Iive important sources oI plant collection: viz. (1) centres oI diversity,
(2) gene banks, (3) gene sanctuaries, (4) seed companies, and (5) Iarmers` Iields.

%5es of Plant Introduction

When the plant introduction is commercially usable as introduced without any modiIication, it is called a 5rimar
introduction. However, more oIten than not, the breeder makes selections Irom the variable population, or uses the
plant introduction as a parent in crosses. The products oI such eIIorts are called secondar introductions.
1. rlmary lnLroducLlon
lnLroducLlon LhaL can be used for commerclal culLlvaLlon as a varleLy wlLhouL any change ln Lhe
orlglnal genoLypes ls referred Lo as prlmary lnLroducLlon 1here are several crops ln whlch dlrecL
use of lnLroducLlon maLerlal has been successful ln wheaL varleLles Sonora 64 Lerma 8o[o are
examples of dlrecL release of lnLroduced maLerlal ln lndla 1hese varleLles were lnLroduced from
Mexlco and released dlrecLly for commerclal culLlvaLlon ln lndla Slmllarly ln semldwarf rlce
varleLles 1alchung naLlve 1 l8 8 l8 20 and l8 36 are examples of prlmary lnLroducLlon Many
such examples can be clLled from oLher fleld crops and frulL crops
lnLroducLlons LhaL are lmmedlaLely adapLed Lo Lhe changed envlronmenL are known as dlrecL
lnLroducLlons 1hus prlmary lnLroducLlon can also be called as dlrecL lnLroducLlon Any forelgn
varleLy whlch ls dlrecLly recommended for commerclal culLlvaLlon ln Lhe new envlronmenL
(counLry) ls called exoLlc varleLy
2. Secondary lnLroducLlon
lnLroducLlon LhaL can be used as a varleLy afLer selecLlon from Lhe orlglnal genoLype or used for
Lransfer of some deslrable gene Lo Lhe culLlvaLed varleLy ls known as secondary lnLroducLlon ln
wheaL varleLles kalyan Sona and Sonallka were released afLer selecLlon from Lhe maLerlal
recelved from Mexlco Several examples can be clLed from oLher crops Secondary lnLroducLlon
ls more common Lhan prlmary lnLroducLlon 1hose lnLroducLlon LhaL Lake some years for
adapLaLlon Lo Lhe new envlronmenL are Lermed as lndlrecL lnLroducLlon 1hus secondary
lnLroducLlon can also be called as lndlrecL lnLroducLlon

u8CSL Cl LAn1 ln18CuuC1lCn
lanL maLerlal ls lnLroduced for flve maln purposes vlz (1) economlc use (2) sLudy of orlgln and
evoluLlon of crop planLs (3) conservaLlon of dlverslLy (4) geneLlc lmprovemenL of crop planLs
and (3) aesLheLlc lnLeresL 1hese aspecLs are brlefly dlscussed below
1 Lconomlc use
varlous agrlculLural crops are lnLroduced for use as new sources of food vegeLables oll
flbre wood or Llmber and frulLs ln oLher words new fleld crops horLlculLural crops foresL
specles and medlclnal planLs are lnLroduced from oLher counLrles
2 SLudy of orlgln and evoluLlon
lanL lnLroducLlon also helps ln Lhe sLudy of orlgln and evoluLlon of crop planLs 1he
dlsLrlbuLlon of crop planLs and Lhelr wlld relaLlves ln dlfferenL geographlcal reglons Lhrough
llghL abouL Lhelr geographlcal orlgln 8ased on collecLlon of crop planLs from dlfferenL
reglons of Lhe world vavllov gave ldea of cenLres of orlgln of culLlvaLed specles and oLher
workers ldenLlfled progenlLors of dlfferenL crop planLs
3 ConservaLlon of ulverslLy
1he geneLlc dlverslLy of crop planLs ls gradually belng eroded due Lo clean culLlvaLlon
deforesLlng developmenL of Lownshlp and varlous oLer facLors lnLroducLlon and collecLlon
of crop planLs ls useful ln conservaLlon of crop geneLlc dlverslLy and savlng cerLaln speclflc
from exLlncLlon
4 use ln hybrldlzaLlon
new planLs are also lnLroduced for geneLlc lmprovemenL of crop planLs lnLroduced maLerlal
ls used ln breedlng programmes for Lransferrlng deslrable characLers Lo Lhe culLlvaLed
specles
3 AesLheLlc lnLeresL
varlous flowerlng planLs are lnLroduced for beauLlflcaLlon of gardens parks offlces houses
bungalows and roads ln blg clLles new ornamenLal planLs are lnLroduced for Lhls purpose
8CCLuu8L Cl ln18CuuC1lCn
ln lndla planL lnLroducLlon for dlfferenL crop planLs ls carrled ouL by n8C8 new uelhl 1he
lndenor has Lo provlde deLalls abouL Lhe planL maLerlal Lo be lnLroduced and Lhe place from
where maLerlal has Lo be lnLroduced Lo Lhe n8C8 1hen n8C8 wlLh Lhe help of lC8l
arranges lnLroducLlon of such maLerlal 1he sender has Lo lssue phyLosanlLary cerLlflcaLe
along wlLh Lhe maLerlal 1hls cerLlflcaLe lndlcaLes LhaL Lhe maLerlal ls free from lnsecLs
dlseases and weed seeds 1he lmporLed maLerlal ls examlned by quaranLlne deparLmenL for
Lhe absence of dlseases pesLs and weed seeds before supplylng Lo Lhe users 1he maLerlal
of seed propagaLed specles ls lmporLed ln Lhe form of seed and Lhose of asexually
propagaLed specles ln Lhe form of cuLLlngs or propagules 1hus exporL and lmporL of planL
maLerlal ls coordlnaLed by n8C8
LAn1 ln18CuuC1lCn C8CAnlZA1lCnS
1here are Lwo Lypes of organlzaLlon vlz lnLernaLlonal and naLlonal whlch deal wlLh lanL
lnLroducLlon lnLernaLlonal lanL CeneLlc 8esources lnsLlLuLe (lC8l) locaLed aL 8ome lLaly
deals wlLh lnLroducLlon of planL maLerlal on global level varlous lnLernaLlonal crop research
lnsLlLuLes also underLake lanL lnLroducLlon work ln collaboraLlon wlLh lC8l ln lndla planL
lnLroducLlon work ls underLaken by naLlonal 8ureau of lanL CeneLlc 8esources (n8C8)
new uelhl n8C8 deals wlLh Lhe lnLroducLlon of AgrlculLural and PorLlculLural crops
ln lndla Lwo more organlzaLlons vlz (1) loresL 8esearch lnsLlLuLe (l8l) uehradun and (2)
8oLanlcal Survey of lndla (8Sl) kolkaLa are also concerned wlLh planL lnLroducLlon work l8l
deals wlLh lnLroducLlon of foresL Lrees whereas 8oLanlcal Survey of lndla ls concerned wlLh
planL maLerlal buL only Lhrough naLlonal 8ureau of lanL CeneLlc 8esources new uelhl
1hus n8C8 coordlnaLes Lhe work of lanL lnLroducLlon ln lndla
ACCLlMA1lZA1lCn
AccllmaLlzaLlon refers Lo adapLaLlon or ad[usLmenL of an lnLroduced varleLy Lo Lhe new
envlronmenL 1he exlsLence of varlablllLy ln Lhe lnLroduced maLerlal helps ln lLs fasLer
accllmaLlzaLlon ln oLher words varlablllLy ln Lhe orlglnal (lnLroduced) maLerlal ls essenLlal
for accllmaLlzaLlon 1hus land races and varleLles of cross polllnaLed specles have beLLer
accllmaLlzaLlon capaclLy Lhan pure llnes and lnbred llnes naLural selecLlon operaLes ln Lhe
process of accllmaLlzaLlon Mode of polllnaLlon also affecLs accllmaLlzaLlon varleLles of cross
polllnaLed specles have beLLer accllmaLlzaLlon capaclLy Lhan varleLles of selfpolllnaLed
specles due Lo exlsLence of more geneLlc varlablllLy ln Lhe former
uCMLS1lCA1lCn
uomesLlcaLlon refers Lo Lhe process of brlnglng wlld and weedy specles under human
managemenL 1he process of domesLlcaLlon sLarLed when man sLarLed selecLlng planLs for
hls use Man has domesLlcaLed varlous planLs such as food crops vegeLables crops flbre
crops medlclnal planLs Llmber Lrees useful mlcrobes eLc Lhrough domesLlcaLlon man has
lmproved planLs for varlous aLLrlbuLes such as yleld quallLy earllness low Loxln conLenLs
reslsLance Lo bloLlc and abloLlc sLresses and several oLher characLers Such lmprovemenLs
dlffer wlLh planL specles under domesLlcaLlon
uSLS Cl LAn1 ln18CuuC1lCnS
lanL lnLroducLlons are uLlllzed ln crop lmprovemenL ln Lhree maln ways vlz (1) dlrecL as a
varleLy (2) as a varleLy afLer selecLlon and (3) as a parenL ln Lhe hybrldlzaLlon for Lhe
developmenL of lmprovemenL varleLy
1 As a varleLy
ln some crops Lhe lnLroduced maLerlal ls dlrecLly released as a new varleLy Lxamples of
dlrecL release of lnLroduced maLerlal ln lndla lnclude semldwarf varleLles Sonora 64
and Lerma 8o[o ln wheaL semldwarf 1alchung naLlve 1 l8 8 l8 20 and l8 36 varleLles
ln paddy 8ragg and Lee varleLles ln soybean 1here are many more examples where
lnLroduced maLerlal was found of dlrecL use and released as new varleLy for commerclal
culLlvaLlon
2 As a new varleLy afLer selecLlon
SomeLlmes Lhe lnLroduced maLerlal ls noL found useful as such ln such case efforLs are
made Lo develop new varleLles Lhrough selecLlon 1here are several crops ln whlch new
varleLles have been developed Lhrough selecLlon from lnLroducLlons lor example ln
LgypLlan coLLon varleLy Su[aLa was released afLer selecLlon from Lhe LgypLlan varleLy
karnak ln Amerlcan coLLon varleLy 8S 72 was released afLer selecLlon from 8usslan
maLerlal ln wheaL varleLles kalyan Sona and Sonallka are Lhe resulL of selecLlon from
Maxlcan wheaL lnLroducLlons Slmllarly new varleLles have been developed Lhrough
selecLlon from Lhe lnLroducLlons ln pearlmllleL (lmproved Chana) cowpea radlsh sweeL
poLaLo and many oLher crops
3 As a parenL ln hybrldlzaLlon
lnLroducLlons are wldely used as parenLs ln Lhe hybrldlzaLlon programmes for Lhe
developmenL of new varleLles ln almosL all lmporLanL agrlculLural and horLlculLural
crops lor example all semldwarf varleLles of wheaL and paddy have been developed
Lhrough Lhe use of lnLroduced maLerlal Many varlelLles and hybrlds ln malze Sorghum
and pearlmllleL have been developed lnvolvlng lnLroduced maLerlal as one of Lhe
parenLs 1he ploneer coLLon hybrld P4 has been developed form a cross beLween
Cu[araL 67 x Amerlcan necLarlless Pere Lhe male parenL ls an lnLroducLlon from
Amerlca Many oLher such examples can be clLed
ML8l1S Anu uLML8l1S
lanL lnLroducLlon as a meLhod of crop lmprovemenL has several merlLs and demerlLs
whlch are brlefly presenLed below
MerlLs
1 lL ls a very easy and qulck meLhod of developlng new varleLles especlally when
lnLroduced maLerlal ls used dlrecLly as a varleLy or afLer selecLlon
2 1hls meLhod ls useful ln lnLroduclng new crop planLs lor example crops llke malze
poLaLo LomaLo ground nuL papaya plneapple LrlLlcale eLc were lnLroduced ln
lndla from oLher counLrles
3 1hls ls a good meLhod of collecLlon and conservaLlon of germplasm of dlfferenL
crops Lo proLecL Lhe same from geneLlc eroslon
4 1hls ls an effecLlve meLhod of conservlng Lhose crop specles whlch have been
LhreaLened by Lhe danger of exLlncLlon Such specles can be saved by shlfLlng Lhen
Lo oLher areas
3 1hls meLhod ls appllcable ln all selfpolllnaLed and vegeLaLlvely propagaLed crops
uemerlLs
1he maln demerlL of Lhls meLhod ls LhaL Lhere are chances of Lhe enLry of new dlseases
lnsecLs and weeds ln Lhe counLry along wlLh Lhe lnLroduced maLerlal lor example
Arglmone Mexlcana weed laLe bllghL of poLaLo bunchy Lop of banana and coffee rusL
dlsease and woolly aphls of apple and poLaLo Luber moLh lnsecLs were lnLroduced ln
lndla along wlLh lnLroduced maLerlal Powever all Lhese enLered before Lhe
esLabllshmenL of quaranLlne organlzaLlon now chances of enLry of new lnsecLs
dlseases and weeds are remoLe due Lo quaranLlne regulaLlons and checkup