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The CGIAR Genetic Resources Community releases a Position Paper outlining their Vision for the Future

The Position Paper, entitled “An Integrated Approach to Genetic Resources in Support of the CGIAR’s Mission”, reflects the consolidated vision developed collectively by the entire genetic resources community of the CGIAR. The Position Paper proposes a coherent approach to the management of agricultural biodiversity that includes forestry, livestock, aquatic, microbial as well as crop plant genetic resources, all encompassed within an ecosystem perspective and a complementary strategy for their conservation and enhanced use. In preparation for the imminent restructuring of the CGIAR, the Inter-Centre Working Group on Genetic Resources - ICWG-GR (which is the steering committee for SGRP and is composed of representatives from each of the CGIAR Centres and FAO working with genetic resources) met, together with a few invited external experts, for a week-long workshop in Mombasa, Kenya to discuss options for the future role of the CGIAR in the field of genetic resources for food and agriculture. The outcome of the Mombasa workshop was a coherent, integrated vision for genetic resources within the CGIAR to enhance the Centres contribution to our partners and stakeholders worldwide in this area of critical importance in which the CGIAR has historically played a central role. By promoting this vision, the ICWG-GR is keen to help improve the CGIAR's ability to function as a true System, and to mobilize the potential of the in-trust germplasm collections and other genetic resources to do what they are meant to do: increase production, improve livelihoods and adapt to change.

Download the Position Paper here


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Core Collections vs FIGS - Contribute to the discussion!

There seems to be a division of opinion among genebank managers, breeders and other genetic resources specialists regarding the best method for locating desired material in large germplasm collections. The opposing camps could be characterized as "Core Collections vs FIGS". Is one method better than the other? Are they mutually exclusive? Could there be a legitimate place for both approaches? Or should one be abandoned in favor of the other?

We invite you to participate in a very interesting discussion currently underway on the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog. Please click the following link "Making that haystack smaller", read what others have written, and share your views and opinions on this burning question with the rest of us!
 

Latest news

Biodiversity warrior Cary Fowler wants to save the world from agricultural collapse, one seed at a time. The varieties of wheat, corn and rice we grow today may not thrive in a future threatened by climate change. Cary Fowler takes us inside a vast global seed bank, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, buried within a frozen mountain in Norway, that stores a diverse group of food-crop for whatever tomorrow may bring. View this talk from TED.com by clicking here

There seems to be a division of opinion among genebank managers, breeders and other genetic resources specialists regarding the best method for locating desired material in large germplasm collections. The opposing camps could be characterized as "Core Collections vs FIGS". Is one method better than the other? Are they mutually exclusive? Could there be a legitimate place for both approaches? Or should one be abandoned in favor of the other?

Farmer carrying pearl millet on his headFarmer carrying pearl millet on his headICRISAT genebank has made available the seed samples of 584 available pearl millet accessions to Sudan following a request from the Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) Unit of the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) in Sudan. The ARC in Wad Medani, Sudan requested ICRISAT for a complete set of the pearl millet genetic resources accessions collected from Sudan for the purposes of conservation and enhancement of utilization by the scientific community of Sudan.

Upcoming meetings

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Impacts of the plant genetic resources collections held in-trust by the CGIAR Centres

The collections held by the CGIAR genebanks represent the single largest accumulation in the world of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. They are probably the most important collections in existence for ensuring global food security and improving the livelihoods of the poor.

Wheat (photo: Bern@t)Wheat (photo: Bern@t)The Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT) has dramatically changed wheat production in the developing world through providing germplasm to national agricultural research systems and helping farmers improve cropping practices.
In developing countries, some 55 million hectares are now sown to CIMMYT-based bread wheat, representing 80 percent of production.

Pigeon pea (photo: ICRISAT)Pigeon pea (photo: ICRISAT)A pigeon pea variety identified by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) (ICP 8863) as resistant to fusarium wilt had an adoption rate of 60 percent one year after its release in Karnataka, India. The variety also out-yielded the best cultivar previously available by about 57 percent. It reduced the unit cost to farmers by 42 percent and benefited the Indian economy to the tune of US$62 million.