ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the present status of genetic resource management of jamun in India. Jamun is one of the most hardy fruit crops, and it can easily be grown in neglected and marshy areas where other fruit trees cannot be grown successfully. Vast genetic and species diversity exists in the genus Syzygium in India. Jamun germplasm has been collected from throughout India, especially from the states with sizable diversity, namely, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, and the Western Ghats region. Characterization and evaluation are important to identify and add value to the germplasm for its further use in crop improvement, as well as to avoid its duplication in germplasm repositories and genebanks. Germplasm conservation of a diverse genus like Syzygium, with several species and vast genetic variability spread over the arid to lower hills of the Himalayas to the Western Ghats and northeast India, is indeed a challenging task, which needs special efforts with dynamic strategies.
