ABSTRACT
Genetic diversity is the unlikeness in genetic constitution among individuals of a population, a species, or a community. It is an evolutionary adaptation that confers the very existence of organisms on the earth. Nevertheless, humans utilize this genetic diversity to create desirable changes in the characteristics of convenient organisms. Therefore, understanding crop genetic diversity is a prerequisite for improving the beneficial attributes of crop plants and fostering awareness of different ecologically significant concepts such as genetic drift, inbreeding, mutation, population fitness, extinction, stability of ecosystems, etc. The Western Ghats is an exceptionally diverse ecosystem in peninsular India, containing a large portion of the country’s flora and fauna. This chapter focuses primarily on reporting the genetic diversity assessments conducted so far among crop plants across the Western Ghats. The chapter covers current trends and gaps in crop diversity assessments and suggests the most appropriate means for detecting high genetic differentiation.
