Which of the following has maximum genetic diversity in India? a. Mango b. Wheat c. Groundnut d. Rice
Option A. India is one of the twelve megadiversity regions of the world with 7.7 percent of genetic resources of the world. Western Ghats have wild relatives of a number of cultivated plants like banana, citrus, mango, pepper etc. Common mango (Mangifera indica) originated as alloploid and its native home was suggested as Eastern India, Assam to Burma or possibly further in the Malay region (Popenoe, 1920). Vavilov (1926) also suggested Indo-Burma region as the centre of origin of mango. Hence, mango shows maximum genetic diversity in India.
