**1. Introduction**

Cotton has played a great role in the global and Indian economies since immemorial time. The antiquity of cotton in the Indian subcontinent has been traced to the 4th millennium BC. The fabrics dated approximately 3000 BC, recovered from the Mohenjo-Daro excavations in Sind (Pakistan), were identified to have originated from cotton plants. The close relatedness of those old fabrics to the *Gossypium arboreum* species was reported by Sundaram and his colleagues [1, 2]. The lint-bearing species of the genus *Gossypium* L. are four, out of which the diploid (2n=26) species *Gossypium arboreum* L. and *G. herbaceum* L. are indigenous in Asia and Africa. The history of introduction of the New World cottons (allo-tetraploid species of *G. hirsutum* L. and *G. barbadense* L. with 2n=52) into India dates back to the 18th century AD [3-5]. By the last decade of the 20th century, India had gained a leading position in the global cotton statistics with the largest cropped area of 8.9 million ha in 1996-97, growing the most diverse cultivars in terms of botanical species and composition, producing the widest range of cotton fiber quality suitable for spinning 6's to 120's counts yarn, and supporting the largest agro-based national industry of the country [2, 6].

Cotton is grown globally on an average in about 33-35 million hectares annually representing less than 2.5% of the world's arable land [7], under a great diversity of agro-climatic conditions and widely varied farming practices. Cotton is reported to be grown in more than 100 countries being an important cash crop for the farmers and having great influence on the economy of such countries [4]. More than 120 million family units are engaged directly in cotton production in the world and about 350 million people are estimated to work in the wider cotton industry each year [8]. The most prominent cotton growing countries include Peoples Republic of China, India, USA, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, Australia, some African states, Israel, etc., [9].

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There are four cultivated species of *Gossypium* Linn., grown for their fibre and also the seed and its by-products. In the world, *G. hirsutum* cotton is predominant with 92-93% area and production, *G*. *barbadense* is grown for nearly 4-5% and the diploid cottons *G. arboreum* and *G. herbaceum* accounted for less than 2 per cent [4, 10].

Botany Division of the Institute [12]. To strengthen these efforts, a unit was set up for the assembly of global germplasm in the division in 1941, which was upgraded as the Division of Plant introduction in 1961. The Plant Introduction Division of IARI provided the necessary impetus and leadership at the national level, particularly for the assembly of PGR through introduction from different parts of the world and their subsequent conservation. The establishment of crop(s) based research institutes further extended and strengthened these efforts. The Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack was established in 1946. Isolated efforts were also being made by the researchers in the State Department of Agriculture, which got a boost with the establishment of the State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, the first SAU, came into being in 1960 [13].

Cotton Germplasm in India — New Trends http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58622 89

Crop improvement research, including PGR management was greatly strengthened and focused with the establishment of multidisciplinary, multicenter "All India Co-ordinated Crop Improvement Projects" starting with that for maize germplasm set up in 1957. The project had coordinated research centres mostly in SAUs and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes located in important crop growing areas. Presently, there are 40 multi-crop or single crop-based institutes, project directorates and national research centres, 37 coordi‐ nated projects and 31 SAUs. The All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project (AICCIP) was established in 1967 with headquarters at Coimbatore, while the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) with headquarters at Nagpur was established in 1976 simultaneously with the CICR Regional Station for South zone at Coimbatore (including AICCIP headquarters), while the CICR Regional Station for the north zone at Sirsa (Haryana State) came into existence by annexing the IARI Regional Station at Sirsa in 1984. The germplasm accessions available at all the cotton breeding stations of the state agricultural university centres all over the country were collected by forming a national germplasm advisory committee at CICR and the collections were also augmented by exchange from other countries, by germplasm surveys and by accessing the elite breeding material available from time to time at various SAU cotton breeding stations. By periodical evaluation, duplicate germplasm accessions were eliminated by growing in the fields of the CICR and its regional stations. The germplasm purification was followed by characterization for 76 characters as per Germplasm Index Card, catalogued, data computerized and seeds conserved in medium term and short term cold storage at CICR and long term storage at the NBPGR New Delhi by depositing selfed (self-fertilized) seeds. Working collections were constituted in all the four cultivated species germplasm and made available to Indian institutions for breeders' use in crop improvement. Thus CICR functioned

These projects, ICAR institutes and SAUs maintained and conserved working collections of germplasm of different crops through frequent seed regeneration and storage under ambient conditions. For example, the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack and Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur conserved rice genetic resources; the "All India Co-ordinated Maize Improvement Project" and the "All India Co-ordinated Wheat Improvement Project", with the headquarters at IARI, maintained maize and wheat germplasm, respectively. The

centres of coordinated projects supported these efforts across the country.

as "The National Gene Bank of Cotton for India".

The spinnable fibre (lint) is the primary product for growing cotton for textile use. For each kilogram of lint produced, it also results in output of 1.4 to 1.6 kilograms of cottonseed. The estimated recent annual production of cotton fibre in the world is around 25 to 26 million metric tons of lint roughly valued at US\$ 40-42 billion [7]. Cotton is the most important natural fibre used in spinning to produce apparel, home furnishings and industrial products and represents about 35-40% of all fibres used in textiles.

As much as 50-55 million tons of cottonseed is produced worldwide annually in recent times valued at US\$ 7-8billion [10]. Cotton has become an important oilseed in the world and can be fed as whole seed to dairy cattle (Ruminant animals) or crushed in oil mills to obtain oil, hulls, meal and linters. The oil is used for human consumption after special refining processes to remove the toxic gossypol. The hulls and meals are good sources of vegetable protein for animal and the linters are used as a chemical cellulose source for manufacturing various personal care products and in high quality paper (used for currency printing in USA and EU) [11]. All these add value to cottonseed at each type of product and processing. Cotton has a significant role in meeting essential needs of clothing, besides food and feed and with a projected 9 billion human population and increase in animal production and the global textile fibre requirements projected at 180 million metric tons, the share of cotton should be increased to 40-50 million metric tons by 2050 [8]. Cotton area in India has increased significantly after the transgenic cotton was introduced in 2002-03 and over 90 per cent of the cotton grown is represented by *Gossypium hirsutum* as *G. hirsutum* x *G. hirsutum* hybrids with Bollgard-II (BG-II) type (Cry1Ac+Cry2Ab) and a small percentage as Bollgard-I (BG-I) with Cry1Ac gene. All the cotton hybrids sold in India are proprietary hybrids of different seed companies with varied parents that are not disclosed due to the proprietary nature of the hybrids and hence it is not possible to know the parents / germplasm used.

In this chapter, the information pertaining to germplasm history, contents and location of germplasm resource, funding sources, sharing within India, characterization, evaluation and utilization of germplasm, data bases, novel trends and perspectives and conclusions have been presented.
