Arunkumar Phurailatpam

Genetic Diversity of Vigna Species Arunkumar Phurailatpam

The genus Vigna is naturally distributed in the new world, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific zone and has been divided into six subgenera. Most of the Vigna species that occur in Asia belong to the subgenus Ceratotropis and are known as the Asian Vigna. Among them mungbean, azuki bean and black gram are the most important in terms of production [Tomooka et al., 2002]. Cowpeas (V. angiculata), Mung beans (V. radiata), and Urd beans (V. mungo) provide a significant portion of the dietary protein in many societies. Several others species, including adzuki beans (V. angularis), moth beans (V. aconitifolia), rice bean (V. umbellata), and Bambara groundnuts (V. subterranean) are important in the diets of many other societies. Mungbean, in particular, is especially important as the major food crop under the subgenus Ceratotropis in developing countries