Managing Global Genetic Resources Agricultural Crop Issues and Policies (1993) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-28
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Artificial selection by the farmer and natural selection by the elements developed a combination of genetic traits to meet the agricultural needs and climate and soil conditions that characterized each region. While many landraces of crops and breeds of animals can be traced back to their wild relatives, and even to their geographic centers of origin, there are others where the path of migration or genetic refinement to an agriculturally important genotype remains speculative.
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, allow scientists to identify, isolate, and manipulate individual genes at the molecular level. These developments continue to drive major advances in the technologies available to cull and manage germplasm resources.
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They include seeds and propagules of plants or sperm and embryos of animals that cannot be held in cold or long-term storage; the special collections and experience represented by individuals throughout the world who have devoted their careers to the germplasm of particular species; the exchange of knowledge as well as germplasm resources that takes place formally and informally; and the continual natural selection in an Amazonian forest, grassland reserve, or cultivated area that persistently reshapes geno
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It also presents a basis for assessing the economic value of genetic resources and evaluates existing national and international genetic resources programs. This report structures the foundation for managing global resources for the future.
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Some, such as the rice collection of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) , have captured a major portion of the total genetic diversity of a particular crop.
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Ex situ conservation occurs outside the species' natural environment. It can include field plantings; seeds or pollen held in cold storage; tissue cultures; or seed, pollen, or tissues held under cryogenic storage (-150° to -196°C)
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Data storage and retrieval methods and management tools, such as the use of core subsets, can give users more direct and selective access to large collections. An ideal core subset within a collection would contain a range of accessions that represents, with an acceptable level of probability and minimum redundancy, much of the genetic diversity of the crop species.
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Genetic diversity is usually not dispersed uniformly. Empirical studies of the slender wild oat revealed that genetic variation is correlated with environmental factors such as rainfall, temperature, slope, exposure, and soil type.
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The latter data are of most interest to a breeder; passport data are essential for management, TABLE 2 Estimates of Germplasm Holdings in the Five Largest National Plant Germplasm Systems and Major International Centers Country/Center Categories Concerned Total United States All crops 557,000 China All crops 400,000 Former Soviet Union All crops 325,000 IRRI Rice 86,000 ICRISAT Sorghum, millet, chickpea 86,000 peanut, pigeon pea ICARDA Cereals, legumes, forages 77,000 India All crops 76,800 CIMMYT Wheat, maize 75,000 CIAT Common bean, cassava forages 66,000 Japan All crops 60,000 IITA Cowpea, rice, root crops 40,000 AVRDC Alliums (onion, garlic, 38,500 shallot) , Chinese cabbage, common cabbage, eggplant, mungbean, pepper, soybean, tomato, other vegetables of regional importance CIP Potato, sweet potato 12,000 NOTES: IRRI, International Rice Research Institute; ICRISAT, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics; ICARDA, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas; CIMMYT, Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Ma~z y Trigo; CIAT, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical; IITA, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture; AVRDC, Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center; CIP, Centro Internacional de la Papa.
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For example, DNA probes can be used to screen germplasm accessions for the presence of particular genetic sequences
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Dot blot tests can use DNA probes to detect the presence of genetic information from rye in wheat breeding lines. Fourth, biotechnology itself can lead to increased demand for germplasm and conservation services because it makes them easier to use.
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More controversial has been the application of ownership rights to germplasm. Quarantine When animal or plant genetic resources are brought into a country they may carry pests or pathogens that could damage agriculture.
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However, the rise of biotechnology has engendered the expectation that the developers of new crop varieties—whether breeders, biotechnologists, or industrymust be assured of a fair return for their investment. These issues have been debated in forums such as the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources, the Keystone International Dialogue on Plant Genetic Resources, the Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade negotiations, and the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
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Regional associations that pool financial and technical resources can provide the benefits of genetic resources programs while making the best use of limited funds. The international agricultural research centers hold large global collections that can service many national and regional requirements.
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While the debate goes on about legal and effective ownership, genetic erosion continues to take place inside and outside germplasm banks and nature preserves, notably in the developing world, which harbors most of the world's genetic resources. It is in the interest of all that these vital natural resources are adequately conserved and made accessible.
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Despite remarkable increases in agricultural production and the growth of programs for collecting, managing, and using genetic resources, significant tasks still confront the world community. For example, researchers need to assess the genetic vulnerability of currently grown crop varieties.
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The extent of food crop vulnerability can most easily be estimated by correlating data on the acreage of major cultivars, the races of pests and pathogens, and the extent of genetic uniformity for resistance or susceptibility. However, reductions in public funding for agricultural research have severely diminished capabilities for monitoring crop vulnerability, even in the developed world.
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An essential element of such successes was the development of new, high-yielding crop varieties that enabled dramatic increases in agricultural production. Central to the development of these and other high-yielding varieties are breeding programs supplied with broad arrays of genetic diversity.
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Although they should be selected to represent the diversity of the main collection, core subsets are unlikely to capture all of the genetic diversity within all accessions. It is probable that if 10 percent of the accessions in a collection are assigned to a subset, no more than 70 percent of all the available alleles will be included (National Research Council, 1991a)
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Minimally this should be the passport data regarding the origins and environment of the accession. Such information is essential to linking core subsets to the potentially wider genetic diversity of the entire collection.
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Within the spectrum of variants comprising the genetic diversity of a crop are accessions that may contain a useful genetic trait, such as resistance to a particular disease or insect. However, such accessions are typically unimproved landraces or wild species that exhibit lower yields and poorer quality along with traits of interest.
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Multiple sites may be required to capture genetic variation associated with adaptation to different soil types, humidity, exposure, and so on. However, effective in situ conservation of this genetic diversity is only possible when there is information on the genetic structures of populations and species.
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Molecular techniques for characterizing genetic material, such as restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, appear likely to provide the breeder with greater efficiency in selecting and developing new breeding lines and varieties. As a result, breeders may become more willing to use germplasm resources and hence to make greater demands on germplasm resource systems.
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International political concern has been expressed over the growth of proprietary rights in the biological area, and particularly over the possibility that such rights benefit the developed world at the expense of the developing world. In both the public and the private sectors, the increased value of germplasm (a value derived from commercial opportunities created through biotechnology)
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Cooperation is needed between the developing countries, which serve as centers of diversity, locations for rejuvenation of seed, and sites for in situ conservation, and the developed countries, which serve as sources of funding, preservation and distribution sites, and training centers. International cooperation and exchange of germplasm can be substantially strengthened by agencies, such as FAG, IBPGR, and the international agricultural research centers.
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These transitions underlie the germplasm controversy; they reflect the difficulty of ensuring that private-sector agricultural biotechnology, including breeding and seed production, provides expanded opportunities for developing countries. International responsibility for conserving, managing, and using genetic resources must be translated into a form offending that satisfies the basic principles of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
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Genetic erosion is also prevalent in many germplasm banks. Sustained support of the banks and vigilance over their management are crucial to the security of germplasm collections.
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28 / Agricultural Crop Issues and Policies Multilevel Collaborations on Genetic Conservation All nations and international agencies need to pool their limited resources and collaborate on the myriad facets of genetic conservation. Worldwide concern demands that periodic assessment and monitoring of collaborative activities be required in the future to ensure maintenance and use of genetic resources, our common biological heritage.
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