Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Legumes and breeding under abiotic
stress: An overview
Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef
1
and Parvaiz Ahmad
2
1
Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
2
Department of Botany, S.P. College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
1.1 Introduction
conditions. Warm season food legumes are popular in
different parts of world; for example, pigeon pea is
mainly grown in India and African countries, cowpea
and soybean are important crops in the USA, while
mung bean and urd bean are important crops in
Southeast Asian countries, especially in the Indian sub-
continent (Singh
et al.,
2011).
Legumes rank third after cereals and oilseeds in world
production and have major effects on the environment,
agriculture, and animal and human nutrition and health
(Graham & Vance, 2003; Dita
et al.,
2006; Mantri
et al.,
2013). Legumes are a primary source of amino acids and
provide around one-third (20-40%) of all dietary pro-
tein (Zhu
et al.,
2005; Kudapa
et al.,
2013). Legumes
produce secondary metabolic compounds that can pro-
tect the plant against pathogens and pests (Kudapa
et al.,
2013).
Legumes are second to cereals in providing food for
humans worldwide (Kamal
et al.,
2003; Ashraf
et al.,
2010; Kudapa
et al.,
2013). In comparison with cereal
grains, legume seeds are rich in protein, and thus are a
source of nutritionally rich food (Ahlawat
et al.,
2007;
Ashraf
et al.,
2010; Kudapa
et al.,
2013). Grain legumes
such as chickpea, pigeon pea, cowpea, dry pea, lentil,
mung bean, urd bean, bean (
Phaseolus vulgaris
L.), broad
bean and grass pea are the main source of dietary pro-
tein for vegetarians, and are an integral part of the daily
diet in several forms worldwide. In addition, grain
legumes, predominantly peanut (
Arachis hypogaea
L.)
and soybean are also major sources for vegetable oil,
providing more than 35% of the world's processed veg-
etable oil (Sharma
et al.,
2010).
The present world population of 7.2 billion is expected
to reach 9.6 billion by the middle of the 21st century
due to the high growth rate, particularly in developing
countries. There is a need to produce about 70% more
food to feed this excessive population (Varshney &
Roorkiwal, 2013).
Legumes belong to the family Fabaceae/Leguminosae
(with about 700 genera and 18,000 species). Legume
crops can be divided into two groups according to their
ability to grow in different seasons, namely cool season
food legumes and warm or tropical season food legumes
(Miller
et al.,
2002; Toker & Yadav, 2010). The cool
season food legumes include broad bean (
Vicia faba
),
lentil (
Lens culinaris
), lupins (
Lupinus
spp.), dry pea
(
Pisum sativum
), chickpea (
Cicer arietinum
), grass pea
(
Lathyrus sativus
) and common vetch (
Vicia sativa
) crops
(FAOSTAT 2009; Andrews & Hodge, 2010). These are
among the world's oldest cultivated plants (Materne
et al.,
2011). Dry pea, chickpea, broad bean and lentil
are the four major cool season grain legume crops
produced for human consumption. They are grown on
all continents except Antarctica. Lupin species - e.g.
Lupinus albus
(white lupin) and
Lupinus luteus
(yellow
lupin) - and vetches - in particular, common vetch - are
important for animal feed (Andrews & Hodge, 2010).
On the other hand, the warm season food legumes
include pigeon pea (
Cajanus cajan
), cowpea (
Vigna
unguiculata
), soybean (
Glycine max
L.), mung bean (
Vigna
radiata
var.
radiata
) and urd bean (
Vigna mungo
) crops,
which are mainly grown in hot and humid climatic
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