Germplasm enrichment in major tropical grasses and their characterization for emerging environmental challenges have been major focussed area in the recent past. Breeding efforts in tropical grasses are still limited to few selected species viz. Panicum spp, Cenchrus spp, Pennisetum spp and Bracharia spp and all other grasses use of land races for varietal development through selection have been major source of improvement. The pace of breeding efforts in the tropical grasses have been slowed because of many inherent characteristics viz. apomixis, poor seed set, high photo and thermo sensitivity often creating problem in designing and implementing an effective breeding programme. Identification of sexual lines using the modern tools of biotechnology have given new ways for the improvement in these group of crops. This paper provides overview of the recent development that has taken place in the germplasm collection, utilization and significant achievement made through genomic and biotechnological research
