S. Vanisri Genomics, gene bank, benefits, necessitates , crop improvement 1-1 5 (1) 2021 January, 2021 Crop genebanks available across the globe are always served as valuable resources for economically important genes. These gene banks give out valuable raw material for the crop improvement through the augmentation, conservation and sharing of unique germplasm among the researchers. The world population is increasing with the alarming rate and is 7.8 billion as of January 2021 and will continue to grow day by day. To meet the food supply to this large population we need bumper crop production. Are plant breeders ready to take this challenge? Does existing accessions conserved and maintained in the gene bank is sufficient to feed the world by planning systematic crop improvement programme? Do we all know the extent of the variability conserved? Is there any necessity to add the variation from alien sources in the crop plants? Do crop breeders meet all the requirements from the exiting crop gene banks? Urgent need for the effective utilization of the available germplasm is augmentation, characterization and systematic evaluation of the accessions for the identification of the trait specific material which could be utilized in the crop breeding programme.