A GLOBAL PROGRAMME FOR THE CONSERVATION OF HORTICULTURAL GENETIC RESOURCES

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 143: VIII African Symposium on Horticultural Crops

A GLOBAL PROGRAMME FOR THE CONSERVATION OF HORTICULTURAL GENETIC RESOURCES

Author:

D.H. van Sloten

Abstract:
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations initiated a programme on genetic resources early in the 1960s. In 1974 the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) established the Int. Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), with its Executive Secretariat located in the Crop Genetic Resources Centre of FAO.

Only fairly recently has attention been given to safeguard genetic resources of horticultural crops and an outline of these activities is presented. The following items are discussed:

regional and crop priorities agreed by the IBPGR;
collecting activities for particular vegetables and fruits;
different methods of conservation (seed storage both in base- and active collections, field genebanks, in situ and in vitro conservation);
characterization and evaluation using standard IBPGR descriptor lists;
documentation; and
utilization.

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