Decentralized Collaborative Plant Breeding for Utilization and Conservation of Neglected and Underutilized Crop Genetic Resources

2015 ◽  
pp. 25-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Camacho-Henriquez ◽  
Friederike Kraemer ◽  
Gea Galluzzi ◽  
Stef de Haan ◽  
Matthias Jäger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Crop Genetic Resources ◽  
Underutilized Crop ◽  
Collaborative Plant Breeding

Some recent issues on the conservation of crop genetic resources in developing countries

Genome ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Jana
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Core Collection ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Crop Genetic Resources ◽  
Core Collections ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
Crop Genetic Diversity

Crop genetic resources (CGRs) are renewable resources. These resources are enriched rather than depleted by their use in research and plant breeding. Both at the time of Vavilov and, later, in the early 1970s, when concerted international efforts to collect and preserve CGRs started with the initiatives of the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), CGRs were considered to be the common heritage of humankind. Now, they are widely accepted as "national heritage." Possible impacts of this nationalization on the utilization and enrichment of global crop genetic diversity and, consequently, on global food security are issues of great significance. At present, efficient management and adequate use of CGRs are more important concerns than their further exploration and collection. To increase the use of preserved CGRs in plant breeding, the formation of core collections, by selecting representative subsets from large ex situ collections of CGRs, was recommended in 1984. Since then, the core-collection strategy has been further justified as a practical approach to genetic resources management, as well as to their conservation. As a cost-saving germplasm-management strategy, the core-collection concept has considerable merit. However, the rapidly increasing popularity of core collections may undermine the genetic wealth stored in national gene banks of both developed and developing countries. Distinction is made between subsets of working collections and core collections. When a small number of CGRs is required for specific plant breeding purposes, a properly formed working collection is more useful than a representative collection. Despite the relative abundance of genetic diversity in crop plants in traditional agroecosystems, maintenance of these agroecosystems is not a realistic long-term alternative for preserving crop genetic diversity and ensuring global food security. What is needed in the "gene-rich" developing countries is the adoption of "biodiversity friendly" plant breeding and agricultural practices.Key words: crop genetic resources, core collection, germplasm conservation, in situ conservation, ex situ conservation, modern landraces.

Participatory plant breeding programs to optimize use of crop genetic resources

2021 ◽  
pp. 251-270
Author(s):  
Margaret Smith ◽  
◽  
J. C. Dawson ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Local Level ◽  
In Situ Conservation ◽  
Participatory Plant Breeding ◽  
Breeding Method ◽  
Crop Genetic Resources ◽  
Participatory Breeding ◽  
On Farm

This chapter summarizes a sample of variety evaluation, experimental design, and breeding method innovations that have served as solid approaches for participatory plant breeding (PPB) efforts. With success in PPB comes success in conservation at a local level of useful alleles and allele assemblages in the form of on-farm crop genetic resources. PPB programs of this sort have the potential to add value to local or traditional varieties that might otherwise be abandoned, thus promoting their in situ conservation. This chapter briefly touches on methodologies to assess farmers’ variety preferences. This is followed by sections that highlight some experimental designs for on-farm variety evaluation and farmer-participatory breeding methods for combining in-situ conservation with genetic improvement. Finally, some of the challenges that may limit genetic gain from PPB programs are noted – problems that increase the risk of wholesale replacement of on-farm genetic diversity rather than conservation through improvement.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ALLELIC DIVERSITY, A PRACTICAL MEANS OF PRESERVING AND USING MINOR ROOT CROP GENETIC RESOURCES

2005 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
VINCENT LEBOT ◽  
ANTON IVANCIC ◽  
KUTTOLAMADATHIL ABRAHAM
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Allelic Diversity ◽  
Core Sample ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Breeding Strategies ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Crop Genetic Resources ◽  
Root Crop

This paper addresses the preservation and use of minor root crop genetic resources, mostly aroids and yams. Conservation is fraught with difficulty: ex situ collections are expensive to maintain and methods for on-farm conservation have not been studied. Conventional breeding strategies present serious limitations when applied to these species. Furthermore, the evaluation and distribution of improved material are as problematical as its conservation. The similarities shared by these species regarding their domestication, breeding constraints and improvement strategies as well as farmers' needs, are briefly reviewed. Based on these biological constraints, we propose a practical alternative to current conservation and breeding strategies. This approach focuses on the geographical distribution of allelic diversity rather than localized ex situ and/or in situ preservation of genotypes. The practical steps are described and discussed. First, a core sample representing the useful diversity of the species is assembled from accessions selected for their diverse and distant geographic origins, wide genetic distances, quality, agronomic performances and functional sexuality. Second, the geographical distribution of this core sample, in vitro via a transit centre, allows the direct use of selected genotypes by farmers or for breeding purposes. Third, the distribution of genes is realized in the form of clones resulting from segregating progenies and, fourth, farmers select clones with local adaptation.

Access to plant genetic resources for genomic research for the poor: from global policies to target-oriented rules

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels P. Louwaars ◽  
Eva Thörn ◽  
José Esquinas-Alcázar ◽  
Shumin Wang ◽  
Abebe Demissie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Multilateral System

Applied genetics combined with practical plant breeding is a powerful tool in agricultural development and for food security. The Green Revolution spurred the world's potential to meet its food, feed and fibre needs at a time when vast regions were notoriously food-insecure. Subsequent adaptations of such strategies, from the late 1980s onwards, in order to develop new plant varieties in a more participatory way, have strengthened the focus on applying technology to farmers' diverse needs, feeding research results into a variety of seed systems. During these developments, there were no major legal impediments to the acquisition of either local or formal knowledge or of the building blocks of plant breeding: genetic resources. The emergence of molecular biology in plant science is creating a wealth of opportunities, both to understand better the limitations of crop production and to use a much wider array of genetic diversity in crop improvement. This ‘Gene Revolution’ needs to incorporate the lessons from the Green Revolution in order to reach its target groups. However, the policy environment has changed. Access to technologies is complicated by the spread of private rights (intellectual property rights), and access to genetic resources by new national access laws. Policies on access to genetic resources have changed from the concept of the ‘Heritage of Mankind’ for use for the benefit of all mankind to ‘National Sovereignty’, based on the Convention on Biological Diversity, for negotiated benefit-sharing between a provider and a user. The Generation Challenge Programme intends to use genomic techniques to identify and use characteristics that are of value to the resource-poor, and is looking for ways to promote freedom-to-operate for plant breeding technologies and materials. Biodiversity provides the basis for the effective use of these genomic techniques. National access regulations usually apply to all biodiversity indiscriminately and may cause obstacles or delays in the use of genetic resources in agriculture. Different policies are being developed in different regions. Some emphasize benefit-sharing, and limit access in order to implement this (the ‘African Model Law’), while others, in recognition of countries' interdependence, provide for facilitated access to all genetic resources under the jurisdiction of countries in the region (the Nordic Region). There are good reasons why the use of agricultural biodiversity needs to be regulated differently from industrial uses of biodiversity. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which entered into force in 2004, provides for facilitated access to agricultural genetic resources, at least for the crops that are included in the Treaty's ‘Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing’. Ratification of the Treaty is proceeding apace, and negotiations have entered a critical stage in the development of practical instruments for its implementation. Although the scope of the Treaty is all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, there are important crops that are not covered by its Multilateral System. Humanitarian licences are being used to provide access for the poor to protected technologies: countries may need to create such a general humanitarian access regime, to ensure the poor have the access they need to agricultural genetic resources.

Strategies for In Situ Conservation of Crop Genetic Resources in Dryland Areas of Africa

2003 ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Grum ◽  
V. Guerette ◽  
B. Kone ◽  
A. Sidibe ◽  
M. Kouressy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
In Situ Conservation ◽  
Crop Genetic Resources

APPLE VARIETIES DEVELOPED BY FOLK BREEDING IN THE CAUCASUS IN THE COLLECTIONS OF MAIKOP EXPERIMENT STATION OF VIR AND THE VIR HERBARIUM (WIR)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. SHLYAVAS ◽  
◽  
L.V. BAGMET ◽  
A.A. TRIFONOVA ◽  
K.V. BORIS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Malus Domestica ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Malus Domestica Borkh ◽  
Apple Varieties ◽  
Experiment Station ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Herbarium Collection ◽  
Passport Data

The catalogue contains the basic passport data of apple varieties (Malus domestica Borkh.) developed by folk breeding in the Caucasus that are maintained in the VIR collection of global genetic resources. The presented accessions are preserved in the field genebank of Maikop Experiment Station of VIR and in the VIR herbarium collection (WIR). The catalogue is addressed to experts in the fields of plant breeding, genetics and botany as well as to teachers and students of biological or agricultural universities.

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