scholarly journals The Role of Vegetable Genetic Resources in Nutrition Security and Vegetable Breeding

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas W. Ebert
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Fruit And Vegetables ◽  
Agricultural Policies ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Farming Community ◽  
Complex Inheritance

Malnutrition, comprising undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and overnutrition, is more widespread than hunger per se and affects most nations around the globe. The diversity and the quality of food produced and consumed are decisive factors when addressing the triple burden of malnutrition. In this context, fruit, vegetables, and nuts are increasingly moving into the focus of the nutrition community. Agricultural policies and investments in agriculture are predominantly focused on staple food production, neglecting the economic and nutritional potential of fruit and vegetables. While global vegetables are well represented in genebanks around the globe, this is much less the case for traditional vegetables. Collecting efforts in hotspots of vegetable diversity in Africa and Asia are required to conserve this germplasm before it is being replaced by modern varieties. Home gardens, community seedbanks, and variety introduction through vegetable seed kits are ways how genebanks can link with the farming community to strengthen the informal seed sector. This in turn may result in more diverse production systems and increased consumption of fruit and vegetables. In the formal seed sector, vegetable breeders need access to a wide diversity of genetic resources, predominantly farmers’ varieties, landraces, and crop wild relatives. Genomics-assisted breeding is increasingly facilitating the introgression of favorable genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with complex inheritance patterns from wild species into cultigens. This will lead to wider use of crop wild relatives in the development of resilient cultivars.

scholarly journals Conservation status and sustainable local use of crop and crop wild relative species in the Bistoon protected area / West of Iran

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Rostami ◽  
Korous Khoshbakht
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relative ◽  
Crop Wild Relative ◽  
Local Use

Abstract Collecting information about crop wild relatives (CWRs) as vital genetic resources for food security is the first stage of monitoring them. In this study, which was conducted in a protected area, we surveyed the conservation status of CWR sand, and the interaction between the condition of these plants and their local use. From 338 plant species in the area, 179 crop wild relatives in 38 families were identified. None of them is threatened, but some endemic rare or vulnerable plants such as Alkanna frigida Boiss. could cause some anxiety. Among these species 19 species of CWRs have edible usage in this area. Harvesting the crop wild relatives from nature by the local people is seen as a conservative factor although this is not usually true of other species.

scholarly journals Genetic Diversity and Utilization of Cultivated Eggplant Germplasm in Varietal Improvement

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1714
Author(s):  
Yusuff Oladosu ◽  
Mohd Y. Rafii ◽  
Fatai Arolu ◽  
Samuel Chibuike Chukwu ◽  
Monsuru Adekunle Salisu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Solanum Melongena ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Germplasm Resources ◽  
Biotic And Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Varietal Improvement ◽  
Disease Resistances ◽  
Solanaceae Family ◽  
Point Of Departure

Eggplant is the fifth economically most important vegetable in the Solanaceae family after tomato, potato, chili, and tobacco. Apart from the well-cultivated brinjal or aubergine eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), two other underutilized eggplant species, the African eggplant (S. macrocarpon L.) and the scarlet eggplant (S. aethiopicum L.), were also cultivated with local importance where the leaves and fruits are used for food and medicinal purposes. The major objectives of the eggplant breeding program are to improve fruit quality, increase yield performance through heterosis breeding, and introduce pest and disease resistances from wild relatives. Europe and Asia hold a wide collection of germplasm resources with significant potential for genetic improvement. While cultivated eggplant is susceptible to several fungi and bacteria, many wild relatives offer potential resistance to these pathogens. In this paper, we review the genetic resources and diversity of cultivated eggplant and its wild relatives. As a point of departure, we examine the economic importance, domestication, taxonomy characterization, and relationships of the crop and its wild relatives. The importance of evaluating and safeguarding wild relatives is highlighted, as crop wild relatives are highly underrepresented. A key section in this study is an overview dedicated to genetic resources, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, pre-breeding, and breeding for sustainable eggplant production.

scholarly journals SPECIES DIVERSITY OF THE VIR COLLECTION OF GRAIN LEGUME GENETIC RESOURCES AND ITS USE IN DOMESTIC BREEDING

2019 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-123
Author(s):  
M. A. Vishnyakova ◽  
T. G. Aleksandrova ◽  
T. V. Buravtseva ◽  
M. O. Burlyaeva ◽  
G. P. Egorova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Grain Legumes ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
The State ◽  
Grain Legume ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
Domestic Breeding

The world’s genebanks hold 7.5 million germplasm accessions of plant genetic resources (PGR). One of the qualitative characteristics of the PGR collections is the species diversity, in particular, the presence of crop wild relatives (CWR), which makes it possible to widen the use of gene pools in the breeding process. The collection of the Vavilov Institute (VIR) is one of the most diverse holdings in the number of plant species. A survey is provided here of the species diversity in VIR’s grain legume collection, and its use in domestic breeding practice is analyzed. Comparison of this diversity with the state of PGR exploitation in the world makes it possible to assess the prospects of more efficient utilization of gene pool potential, especially for species that are unjustifiably cultivated on a too small scale or even neglected as crops in this country. The VIR collection of grain legumes incorporates 196 species from 9 genera of the family Fabaceae. This number includes cultigens and CWR. The cultivars of 21 species of grain legumes listed in the State Register of Breeding Achievements (2018) are adapted to the soil and climate conditions of this country. However, the species diversity of the collection could be used more efficiently in domestic plant breeding and crop production. This concerns both underutilized crops in Russia (broad beans, lima beans and grass pea) and those whose adaptive potential is adjusted only to certain and limited areas of the Russian Federation (Tepary beans and Vigna spp.). It is also necessary to exploit more efficiently species of the wild flora, both for direct utilization as pastures, green manure or phytoremediation crops and for introgressive breeding and domestication (Vicia benghalensis L., V. narbonensis L., Lathyrus sylvestris L., Lupinus hartwegii Lindl., etc.). Incorporation of crop wild relatives into the breeding process is promising for crop improvement in a number of aspects: for example, to increase resistance to diseases, pests, abiotic stressors, etc.

scholarly journals A Dual Strategy of Breeding for Drought Tolerance and Introducing Drought-Tolerant, Underutilized Crops into Production Systems to Enhance Their Resilience to Water Deficiency

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amparo Rosero ◽  
Leiter Granda ◽  
Jhon A. Berdugo-Cely ◽  
Olga Šamajová ◽  
Jozef Šamaj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drought Tolerance ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Water Deficiency ◽  
Drought Tolerant ◽  
Neglected And Underutilized Species ◽  
Underutilized Species ◽  
Staple Crops

Water scarcity is the primary constraint on crop productivity in arid and semiarid tropical areas suffering from climate alterations; in accordance, agricultural systems have to be optimized. Several concepts and strategies should be considered to improve crop yield and quality, particularly in vulnerable regions where such environmental changes cause a risk of food insecurity. In this work, we review two strategies aiming to increase drought stress tolerance: (i) the use of natural genes that have evolved over time and are preserved in crop wild relatives and landraces for drought tolerance breeding using conventional and molecular methods and (ii) exploiting the reservoir of neglected and underutilized species to identify those that are known to be more drought-tolerant than conventional staple crops while possessing other desired agronomic and nutritive characteristics, as well as introducing them into existing cropping systems to make them more resilient to water deficiency conditions. In the past, the existence of drought tolerance genes in crop wild relatives and landraces was either unknown or difficult to exploit using traditional breeding techniques to secure potential long-term solutions. Today, with the advances in genomics and phenomics, there are a number of new tools available that facilitate the discovery of drought resistance genes in crop wild relatives and landraces and their relatively easy transfer into advanced breeding lines, thus accelerating breeding progress and creating resilient varieties that can withstand prolonged drought periods. Among those tools are marker-assisted selection (MAS), genomic selection (GS), and targeted gene editing (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) technology). The integration of these two major strategies, the advances in conventional and molecular breeding for the drought tolerance of conventional staple crops, and the introduction of drought-tolerant neglected and underutilized species into existing production systems has the potential to enhance the resilience of agricultural production under conditions of water scarcity.

Climate change and crop wild relatives: can species track their suitable environment, and what do they lose in the process?

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marleen M. P. Cobben ◽  
Rob van Treuren ◽  
Theo J. L. van Hintum
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Species Distribution Models ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Founder Effects ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Dispersal Capacity

Crop wild relatives are an increasingly important source of plant genetic resources for plant breeders. Several studies have estimated the effects of climate change on the distribution of crop wild relatives, using species distribution models. In this approach, two important aspects, i.e. species' dispersal capacity and founder effects, are currently not taken into account. Neglecting these aspects can lead to an underestimation of the climate change-induced threat to the size of the species range and the conservation of range-wide levels of genetic diversity. This paper presents two recommendations for the interpretation of the results obtained with these models. The integration of process-based simulation models and statistical species distribution models will facilitate the inclusion of dispersal processes and founder effects in future assessments of the resilience of plant genetic resources under climate change.

scholarly journals Current Agricultural and Environmental Policies in Benin Republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Ephrème D. Dayou ◽  
Barnabé K. L. Zokpodo ◽  
Marthe Montcho ◽  
Emmanuel A. Ajav ◽  
Isaac A. Bamgboye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
Agricultural Policies ◽  
Environment Impact ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Environment Impact Assessment ◽  
The Government ◽  
Benin Republic

The need to feed the population growth conducts to the development of material intensive production systems in many countries. However the absence of adequate policies has adverse consequences on the environment and the performance of the agricultural and rural sectors. Benin Republic, through its Strategic Plan for Agricultural Sector Development (PSDSA) focuses on improving food and nutrition security, improving farm level income and building resilience to climate change within the Government Action Plan (PAG Bénin Révélé) 2016-2021. The aim of this study is to analyze the current agricultural policies and his link with the current environmental policies in Benin Republic. The data from Ministries and Structures in charge of Agriculture, Environment, Health and Human being were used. Reports from some international organizations such as FAO, PNUD and FIDA were also used. It is observed and planed an increase in cultivation area, all crops yields and crops production from 2016 to 2021. That will involve the more use of agricultural machinery, fertilizers and pesticides. Added to the current environment challenges, it appears the risk of soil degradation, deforestation, water and air pollution, then global impact on the environment when this plan will be implemented. It is right that some Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) are purposed for many of the actions. However, these EIA are sometime neglected and sacrificed for the profitability of agricultural production. To achieve this agricultural goal without affect the environment, the respect of the adequate law and EIA for each single activity becomes necessary.

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