Improved vegetable varieties for Central Asia and the Caucasus developed from AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center Germplasm

After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, all countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus experienced difficulties in obtaining vegetable germplasm for breeding programs.The genebank at AVRDC -The World Vegetable Center conserves a diversity of vegetable germplasm.From 2005-2012, the Center introduced 1370 genebank accessions and 26 improved lines of vegetable species representing 9 families to countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus through the Regional Network for Vegetable System Research and Development.This network fostered faster variety development and dissemination by encouraging partner research institutes to study vegetable crops in regional variety trials under various agroecosystems.Currently a total of 38 new varieties of 12 species are under State Variety Trials.Through collaboration, 35 new varieties of 8 vegetable crops including tomato, sweet and hot pepper, eggplant, vegetable soybean, mungbean, yard-long bean and cabbage have been released and registered in state registries.From 35 new varieties, 14 have been developed by conventional selection methods using germplasm received from the AVRDC genebank.All released varieties demonstrate economically valuable traits: early maturity, high yield, resistance to diseases and pests, high nutrient content and other marketable features.Seeds of released varieties are multiplied by research institutes for distribution to farmers.For the first time, new varieties of non-traditional species such as vegetable soybean, mungbean, yard-long bean and Chinese leafy cabbage have expanded the diversity of vegetables grown in the region, and have become popular for cultivation and consumption.Increasing vegetable production will help diversify diets, increase farmers' income, and enhance the well-being of families throughout the region.