Bambara Groundnut, The Crop for New Millennium

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean L. Verdc.) as one of the legume crops belongs to the Phaseoloid-Millettioid clade, which diverged some 45-50 million years ago from the Hologalegina clade. Due to the shortage growing period of Bambara groundnut it ranks the third most important food legume crop in semi-arid Africa in terms of production and consumption. It is highly drought tolerant and resists pest and disease. Bambara groundnut is a rich source of protein, contributing to alleviate nutritional problems in areas where staple foods are predominantly carbohydrate sources. Despite these potential of bambara groundnut it is inadequately characterized and neglected by research community. Employing new biotechnological tools such as DNA markers for mapping and identifying genes for desirable traits can accelerate the improvement of this crop genetically. This book covers the recent progress on genome research in bambara groundnut, including genetic map and QTL analysis using microsatellite and Diversity array technique markers. This will help breeders to effectively pyramid desirable genes into the cultivars in a much shorter time than would possible by conventional breeding.