Exploration, collection, characterization and utilization of new germplasm are continuous process in breeding programs. Collection of new germplasm in stress-prone areas will augment the sources of new genes for abiotic stress tolerance in developing stress-tolerant varieties. An exploration in the South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal and Assam states of India for the collection of salinity and waterlogging tolerant germplasm, respectively, was conducted, and 68 new accessions were collected including 51 S. spontaneum, six S. officinarum, four Erianthus arundinaceus, two Erianthus bengalense, three Imperata cylindrica and two Sclerostachya sp. In the saline coastal district, South 24 Parganas seven S. spontaneum, three S. officinarum, four E. arundinaceus and two Erianthus bengalense were collected. Large population of S. spontaneum was found in river banks and river beds in different districts of Assam. Excluding Kaziranga National Park (KNP), 34 collections were made in the state which included thirty-one S. spontaneum and three S. officinarum. In the waterlogged KNP areas, S. spontaneum was the most abundant grass and thirteen S. spontaneum, three Imperata and two Sclerostachya were collected. Greater variation was observed among the S. spontaneum collections for plant height (91-313 cm), leaf width (0.1-2.0 cm), stalk diameter (0.2-1.6 cm) and internode length (4.2-23 cm). Clustering of S. spontaneum collected from Assam generated 6 distinct clusters and cluster II had many germplasm collected from waterlogged areas of KNP. Three non-flowering accessions grouped into cluster IV. Shannon's diversity index indicated greater species diversity in South 24 Parganas. The S. spontaneum collected from South 24 Parganas and KNP can be characterized and utilized for the development of salinity and waterlogging tolerant sugarcane varieties, respectively. Four E. arundinaceus collected from South 24 Parganas will be a potential source for introgression of high biomass genes to develop high yielding sugarcane and energycane varieties
