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Conservation of crop germplasm: an overview of the FAO/IBPGR regional programme for South West Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

W. G. Ayad
Affiliation:
FAO/IBPGR Regional Co-ordinator for N Africa & SW Asia, c/o Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 2016, Nicosia, Cyprus.
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Synopsis

The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) has paid particular emphasis to SW Asia in its endeavour to collect, conserve and promote utilisation of the world's plant germplasm. This is in view of the region's rich genetic diversity in many crop plants and their weedy/wild relatives, coupled with its alarming rate of genetic erosion. Action during the past decade has focused on collecting mainly cereal and grain legume crops and their closest wild relatives within the framework of a regional programme encompassing six countries. Gene banks were also set up in these member countries to handle a full range of operations including seed storage, characterisation/preliminary evaluation and documentation. In future, emphasis will be placed on ecogeographical surveys prior to mounting collecting missions and on more characterisation/preliminary evaluation work.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1986

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