Strengthening Information

on

Plant Genetic Resources in Asia

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Strengthening Informationon

Plant Genetic Resources in Asia

PROJECT FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

and

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSREGIONAL OFFICE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Bangkok, 2009

This publication is printed by

The FAO Regional Project “Capacity building and enhanced regional collaboration for the conservation and

sustainable use of plant genetic resources in Asia” (GCP/RAS/240/JPN)

All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. For a copy of the report, please write to: Regional Project “Capacity building and enhanced regional collaboration for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources in Asia” c/o FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific 39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. Contact address: Duncan Vaughan Chief Technical Adviser GCP/RAS/240/JPN Tel: 662-697 4142 Fax: 662-697 4445 Email: Duncan.Vaughan@fao.org

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

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Foreword

This document represents a record of the First National Focal Points Meeting of Project GCP/RAS/240/JPN – Capacity building and regional collaboration for enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of Plant Genetic Resources in Asia. The meeting was held at FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand from 29-30th June 2009. The meeting involved participants from 15 project member countries and representatives of the donor country, Japan, and specialists from CG centres, ICRISAT and Bioversity International, and the Crop Diversity Trust, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Secretariat and FAO-AGP. The FAO project GCP/RAS/240/JPN has as its main objective the establishment of a country driven, Asia wide system, which assists the GPA-PGRFA as a support for sustainable agricultural development in the Asian region. The main objectives of this meeting were: (a) To introduce the plant genetic resources information systems of Project member countries; (b) To discuss ways to improve in-country and between country information flow regarding plant genetic resources; (c) To learn the latest developments regarding international activities related to plant genetic resources; (d) To discuss within country work plans related to the project. This project has representation from East, South and Southeast Asia and thus is an excellent opportunity for cross continent sharing of ideas related to plant genetic resources. The participation in the meeting of representatives from FAO Headquarters, CG centres, the Crop Diversity Trust and ITPGRFA allowed for discussion of current key areas of plant genetic resources work.

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Contents Page

Foreword................................................................................................................. iii Contents.................................................................................................................. iv Acronyms................................................................................................................ vi Welcome address by He Changchui.......................................................................

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Opening address by Masahide Hirokawa............................................................... 3 Plant Genetic Resources and a new project for Asia by Duncan Vaughan........ 4 Summary reports

Bangladesh – Status of Plant Genetic Resources in Bangladesh M. K. A. Chowdhury.........................................................................................

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Bhutan – Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agricultural System in Bhutan Asta M. Tamang.................................................................................................

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Cambodia – Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Cambodia Ouk Makara and Sakhan Sophany.....................................................................

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India – Plant Genetic Resources Information for India S.K. Sharma.......................................................................................................

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Indonesia – Plant Genetic Resources Information System in Indonesia Sutrisno..............................................................................................................

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Malaysia – Malaysia experience in the implementation of NISM Project Tosiah Sadi and N. Modh. Shukor.....................................................................

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Mongolia – The current status of National Plant Genetic Resources Conservation in Mongolia N. Bayarsukh and J. Namjilsuren.......................................................................

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Myanmar – Summary of PGR for Food and Agriculture System in Myanmar Aye Aye Myint...................................................................................................

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Nepal – Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture system in Nepal Hari Dahal..........................................................................................................

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Pakistan – Plant Genetic Resources Information System in Pakistan M. Shahid Masood.............................................................................................

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Philippines – National Information Sharing Mechanism (NISM) on the implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) – A Plant Genetic Resources Information System established in the Philippines to support PGRFA activities Clarito M. Barron...............................................................................................

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Sri Lanka – Conservation and use of Plant Genetic Resources in Sri Lanka P.W.S.M. Samarasinghe....................................................................................

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Thailand – Report from Thailand to the First National Focal Point Meeting of Project “Capacity building and regional collaboration for enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of Plant Genetic Resources in Asia” Wichar Thitiprasert and Chutima Ratanasatien.....................................................

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Viet Nam – Report on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture System in Viet Nam Tran Danh Suu.......................................................................................................

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Bioversity International – Plant Genetic Resources Information Systems of Bioversity International and the CG system (updates) Leocadio S. Sebastian and Michael Mackay.........................................................

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International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Ryudai Oshima...................................................................................................... 66

Global Crop Diversity Trust Luigi Guarino........................................................................................................ 67

ICRISAT – Approaches to enhance the value of genetic resources in crop improvement S.L. Dwivedi, H.D. Upadhyaya and C.L.L. Gowda.............................................. 68

Discussion comments Percy Sajise........................................................................................................... 75 Steering Committee................................................................................................... 79 Annexes

Annex 1: Meeting Program................................................................................... 81 Annex 2: List of Participants................................................................................. 83 Annex 3: Group Photo........................................................................................... 87

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Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank ANSWER Asian Network for Sweetpotato Genetic Resources AVRDC Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center BAMRI Bandaranayaka Memorial Ayurvedic Research Institute BAPNET Banana Asia Pacific Network BPI Bureau of Plant Industry CARI Central Agricultural Research Institute (Myanmar) CARDI Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CGIAR Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research CIC Centro Internazionale Crocevia CIP International Potato Center CRI Coconut Research Institute (Sri Lanka) CWR Crop Wild Relatives DAR Department of Agricultural Research (Myanmar) DARE Department of Agriculture Research and Education (India) ECPGR European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources GIGA Global Information on Germplasm Accessions GIS Global Information System GPA Global Plan of Action GRU Genetic Resources Unit (ICRISAT) ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics INGER International Network for the Genetic Evaluation of Rice IRRI International Rice Research Institute ITPGRFA International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture MARDI Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute MOU Memo of Understanding NAGS National Active Germplasm Sites NBIN National Biodiversity Information Network (Indonesia) NBPGR National Board of Plant Genetic Resources (Mongolia) NBPGR National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (India) NFP National Focal Point NIAS National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (Japan) NISM-GPA National Information Sharing Mechanism-Global Plan of Action NSF National Science Foundation (Sri Lanka) PARC Pakistan Agricultural Research Council PGRC Plant Genetic Resources Center (Sri Lanka) PGRP Plant Genetic Resources Program (Pakistan) PGRFA Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture PNNPGRFA Philippine National Network on PGRFA PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal PRC Plant Resources Center (Vietnam)

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PSARTI Plant Science and Agricultural Research Training Institute (Mongolia) RLD Root Length Density RRA Rapid Rural Appraisal RRI Rubber Research Institute (Sri Lanka) SABGRC Southeast Asia Banana Germplasm Resources Center SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SH Stakeholders SINGER System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources SRI Sugarcane Research Institute (Sri Lanka) TRI Tea Research Institute (Sri Lanka) UNDP/GEF United Nations Development Program/Global Environment Fund USDA-ARS United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service

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Welcome Address

He Changchui Assistant Director-General and

FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific

Distinguished guests, Distinguished participants, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you, on behalf of the FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf and on my own behalf, to this meeting at the FAO Regional Office in Bangkok. The theme of this first meeting of the project “Plant Genetic Resources – Capacity Building and Regional Collaboration” is Plant Genetic Resources Information Systems. This theme reflects the fact that data on plant genetic resources are only useful if the information is made widely accessible. We are in a new era with respect to information systems. Consequently, it is necessary for us to decide how we can best harness these new opportunities in information systems to further our collective goal of enhancing the sustainable use of plant genetic resources.

The global community is currently undertaking a series of major activities related

to plant genetic resources. Among these activities was the recent meeting in Tunisia of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, that some of you attended. Others include activities related to the Global Seed Vault, Svalbard, Norway that opened just last year. In addition, new networking activities within the region on plant genetic resources have been initiated by Biodiversity International. This FAO project is part of an overall effort to enhance the security of crop diversity.

Global food security rests on the foundation of plant genetic diversity. Anything

that weakens that foundation, such as genetic erosion in the field or in gene banks, threatens global food security. Plant genetic diversity is the foundation for increasing food production – paving the way for achievement of the World Food Summit target and Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger and extreme poverty by 2015. The ability to increase crop productivity rests on the ability of scientists and farmers to tap into the gene diversity that resides in plant genetic resources.

Information on the special and useful characteristics of plant genetic resources is

accumulated in germplasm databases. The better the quality of information and the more widely available it is, the more useful it will be. It is with this in mind that this new project builds on previous work in Asia to help strengthen national plant genetic resources information systems as part of a global network.

This is the second phase of the project. In the first phase only seven countries

participated; in the second phase fifteen countries are involved. Some of the countries represented here have well developed plant genetic resources information systems – so the question for them is how to improve on what already exists. For other countries plant genetic resources information systems are at an early stage of development. It is my hope that for these countries this project will help set up country specific plant genetic resources

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databases on a sound footing that can be developed over the years and become linked to the global system.

It is part of FAO’s job to mobilize resources for activities that member countries

consider important for their agricultural development. This second phase of the project responds directly to calls from members of the first phase for additional support. I would like to acknowledge and thank the Government of Japan for its continued support to this important activity of conserving plant genetic resources.

This meeting will last for only two days. In the short time you are together I want

to strongly encourage participants to make every effort to forge new linkages with colleagues from other countries. I hope that regional collaboration will be fostered not just within the framework of this project but beyond. It is not often that plant genetic resources’ leaders from across Asia have the opportunity to sit together in the same room. I hope the relatively informal setting of this meeting will make your time together most productive.

Finally, I wish you all a successful consultation, and a pleasant and enjoyable stay

in Bangkok. Thank you.

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Opening address

Masahide Hirokawa

First Secretary and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to ESCAP Embassy of Japan in Thailand

177 Witthayu Rd., Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand Mr. He, Ladies and Gentlemen

This morning it gives me great pleasure to greet you at the first meeting of this Regional Project on Plant Genetic Resources.

The Government of Japan recognizes that societies and civilizations are built upon

a foundation of food – and plants are the primary food source. In Asia we recognize rice as our most important food, but rice alone does not provide a healthy diet. Asia is blessed to be the home land of a multitude of other major crops such as soybean, banana, citrus, tea and sugar cane.

In the current era we are acutely aware of the need to increase food production and

also adapt crops to the various new challenges that crop production is faced with. These challenges include not just new or changed pests and diseases, but also abiotic stresses some of which are associated with global climate change. It is because food production in Asia, where most of the human population lives, must increase that conservation of crop diversity for sustainable use has become a truly important issue.

Recognizing this, the Government of Japan approved funding for this project,

proposed by FAO, to help countries across Asia with conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. This project provides a wonderful opportunity to share information on plant genetic all across Asia since this morning we have 16 countries participating in this meeting. I hope that in the two days of the meeting you will make every effort to establish new contacts. In addition, I hope that you will be able to forge a framework that will make this project useful in strengthening plant genetic resources conservation in your respective countries.

Conservation of plant genetic resources is a continuous work with many aspects –

collection, evaluation, characterization and use. Maybe today working with plant genetic resources lacks the glamour of biotechnology. However, biotechnology relies on the work of plant genetic resources workers to provide the materials that they use in their studies. Crop breeders also are reliant on the work that is done by those involved with conservation of plant genetic resources. It is in recognition of the central importance of plant genetic resources for food security that the Government of Japan is supporting this project.

I wish you a very productive meeting and look forward to learning of the progress

of this project in your countries over the next three year. Thank you.

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Plant Genetic Resources and a New Project for Asia (GCP/RAS/240/JPN)

Duncan Vaughan

Chief Technical Adviser Plant Genetic Resources FAO-RAP

Introduction On 19th June 2009 the FAO projected that more than one billion people

(1,000,000,000) will be hungry on a daily basis. This plant genetic resources project is but a small part in the global response to the need for increased sustainable food production to provide lasting food security for all people.

The causes of hunger are many and sometimes a consequence of interacting factors

such as war, disasters, unpredictable and predicted climatic events, poverty etc. But in 2009 it is becoming increasingly clear that after several decades of adequate food stocks, albeit sometimes poorly distributed, we are facing a crisis in food production to feed the worlds population adequately. Yields of our major crops have been not been keeping up with demand.

The routes to over coming constraints in crop productivity are through genetics and

agronomic practices. Both have a major role to play in increasing crop yields as they have done repeatedly in the past. The 1st green revolution of rice in China resulted in double cropping a thousand years ago when short duration varieties of rice were introduced to southern China. The most recent rice green revolution has been hydrid rice. It is worth noting both these green revolutions rested on particular rice genetic resources – short duration Champa rices (possibly from Viet Nam) and a wild rice from Hainan province.

Plant genetic resources are central to increasing global agricultural productivity.

The project that we are embarking on is one part of the global effort to conserve and sustainable use plant genetic resources. I hope by explaining the wider context of plant genetic resources and their importance to global food security for humanity will help us appreciate why we are here this morning. Strengthening conservation of plant genetic resources in Asia

Those involved in the conservation of plant genetic resources have many and

varied activities. These activities, however, can be broadly divided into two areas: a. those that involve keeping germplasm alive, viable and healthy; b. those involved with the information on the germplasm.

I call these two components the yin and yang of plant genetic resources work. Seeds (accessions) are only of value if there is reliable information on the seeds. The information is only of value if viable seeds are associated with the information. I want to focus on information on plant genetic resources.

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FAO is perhaps most well known for its activities to compile, with the help of all member countries, statistics on agriculture. Annually the FAO produces a valuable document, the State of Food and Agriculture, that compiles statistics from each country on food and agriculture. This provides the global community the basic foundation on which to determine global food security or lack of it. This compilation of statistics starts at the village level where extension workers record what farmers are planting and amounts harvested in each district. That data is sent to regional centers and then National Bureaus of statistics. This in turn is fed into the global database on agricultural statistics. This annual exercise is of critical importance in understanding national and global food trends and providing the basis for policy decisions.

Over the last several years FAO has embarked on a similar activity with the help

and support of member countries to monitor on a regular basis the state of global plant genetic resources. This emerged from concerns at the end of the last century that the very foundation on which our crop production depends was eroding as local landrace varieties were replaced by high yielding varieties. The trend in genetic erosion of crops occurred at an alarming speed in some but not all areas. Sometimes the speed with which landrace varieties or cropping patterns changed could not be predicted. Sometimes innovation was promoted by governments or companies, other times innovation was lead by farmers. But rapid change has been a characteristic of agriculture across Asian in the last 40 years and this will continue. This change has been accompanied by a rapid reduction in plant genetic diversity across large swaths of agricultural land. Agriculture and the conservation of PGRFA

At the same time as these agricultural changes were occurring, Asia wide efforts to

collect and conserve plant genetic resources were initiated. This resulted in large collections of plant genetic resources and the construction of facilities (genebanks and supporting structures) to house them and maintain their viability.

Now about 40 years after the start of this great effort in conservation of the worlds

plant genetic resources for food and agriculture we are faced with new and important challenges. These challenges in large part result from the size of collections and the costs involved in the proper maintenance of germplasm collections. The impacts of science

While global actions on the conservation of PGRFA have been occurring science

in two areas has experienced dramatic and on-going revolutions that impact the work of conserving PGRFA. The first revolution is the biotechnology revolution. This revolution has opened doors to genetic change that could not have been envisaged 40 years ago. PGRFA that in a previous era would not have been considered possible to use now, can be used in crop improvement. The barriers to gene exchange have been broken down.

The second revolution has been in relation to information science. This has

resulted in the quantity and quality of information on PGRFA increasing exponentially. The age of digital photography and GIS provides opportunities to record passport data in whole new ways. This is an age when whole genome sequencing will become routine at the species level and at least partial genome sequencing possible at the accession level. The problem now is how to handle all the data so that it will be truly useful.

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The new order regarding PGRFA

The initial activities in any global trend will be the easiest. With experience and analysis new and better (or more appropriate) solutions are sought. There is far greater environmental awareness in societies now compared to 10 years ago, a trend that continues to gain momentum globally. As a result the potential for different ways to conserve PGRFA are opening up. In situ conservation has greater potential now than in the past because communities are more aware of the importance of protecting their heritage and environment. The need for farmers to be an active part of the global conservation system is recognized. The need for the PGRFA conservation system to be more inclusive is now well recognized.

At the same time information systems are becoming a part of everyone’s daily lives in

all parts of the world. Access to information is possible on a scale – both in terms of who can access the information and what information can be accessed – that only a few years ago would not have been considered possible.

Therefore we are now in an age where conservation of and information on PGR is a

great global project. While international, regional and national meetings and initiatives are underway there are a tremendous number of community level activities that impact PGR conservation and use. The rush in the 1970’s and 1980’s was to get PGR into the genebank. Now we see a greater interest in PGR in the community. Urban people are being taught where their food comes from by, for example, sponsorship of urban gardens. Green has become the color of the age and green technology the way of the future. Plant Genetic Resources in Asia

This project (GCP/RAS/240/JPN) is a small part of the evolving global PGRFA system – a system that is ever more inclusive. The objective of the project is to provide Asian countries an opportunity to strengthen their activities related to the Global Plan of Action and thus support sustainable agricultural development in the Asian Region.

This project has two main dimensions – the regional component and the national

component. The regional component is exemplified by regional meetings that provide a rare opportunity for representatives from across Asia to meet, share views and provide the opportunity to establish regional collaboration. A regional meeting of PGR database specialists offers the chance for linkages across Asia on this topic.

The national component of the project provides each country the opportunity to

undertake PGRFA activities that are most important to the country. These national activities are expected to result in outputs that can be shared regionally and globally.

The project benefits from the fact that 2010 is the UN International Year of

Biodiversity. Project member countries might want to use the project as a means to gain increased public awareness of PGRFA in their countries. The objectives of the project

The main objective of this project is to establish a country driven, Asia wide system that assists the GPA-PGRFA as a support for sustainable agricultural development in the Asian region.

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The expected project outputs are: 1. Establishment of a well-developed and functional Asia-wide coordinated NISM-GPA

network for enhancing PGRFA information sharing and collaboration in the project member countries.

2. Past and current activities related to the 20 GPA-PGRFA priority activity areas in the project member countries documented and updated; the needs and priorities for the future identified, and the information published.

3. Strengthened institution capacity in and collaboration among member countries for the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, including indigenous PGR.

4. In close collaboration with FAO headquarters and in consultation with project member countries, improvements that may be needed will be incorporated into the NISM-GPA computer application.

5. In close consultation with FAO headquarters, project member countries and other concerned parties an Asian contribution in support of updating the State of the Worlds PGRFA will be provided.

The objectives of this meeting

The objectives of this regional meeting are for project planning and review, sharing knowledge and experiences, discussing issues and concerns and finding solutions to problems, develop and agree on activities and joint initiatives.

Member countries will prioritize the activities that could be effectively addressed at the national level and/or jointly by the member countries based on their complementary commitment and comparative advantages.

The regional meeting will also establish a project steering committee, with its membership comprising elected members from among the NFPs, and a representative from FAO and donor that will serve as an internal mechanism to oversee and guide the work of the project. Beyond this meeting The expected outcomes of the project are:

a) establishment of a country-driven Asia-wide NISM-GPA network, for sharing information on PGRFA activities and improving coordination and partnership among and within countries;

b) enhanced conservation and use of PGRFA for sustainable agricultural development in the region.

It is hoped that, with the support promised by the Japanese government and the backup activities from FAO both here in Bangkok and also Rome, the National Focal Points will fully support and assist project activities in their countries. For countries that have previously been introduced to NISM-GPA this is the opportunity to get the system institutionalized and a regular feature of your agricultural annual reporting. For countries new to the system this is an opportunity to learn from other countries and reach the same level with regards the plant genetic resources information system in your countries.

Returning to the introductory comments, the activities of this new project on national plant

genetic resources information in the countries across Asia should be seen within the full context of evolving global plant genetic resources activities that are a foundation to both national and global food security.

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Status of Plant Genetic Resources in Bangladesh

Dr. M K A Chowdhury Member-Director (Crops)

& National Focal Point, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Bangladesh

Introduction

The Fourth International Technical Conference of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations held in Leipzig, Germany in 1996 adopted twenty priority areas in the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA). The Conference also adopted the Leipzig declaration, which focuses attention on the importance of plant genetic resources for the world food security, and commits countries to implementing the plan. Bangladesh as a signatory to the CBD(1992) is committed to the implementation of GPA for Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

There are some 10,000 to 80,000 edible plants on Earth, but only 29 species

account for 90% of our food products. Bangladesh is bestowed with immense agrobiodiversity. It is the home of 5,000 species of vascular plants and is the secondary centre of origin of a good number of crop plants. There are more than 500 species of medicinal plants, 130 species of fibre resources (both wild and cultivated), 18 species of bamboo. About 160 different crops are grown in Bangladesh. There are also about 100 minor crops, including fruits and vegetables that are grown in Bangladesh. It is the secondary centre of origin of major crops like rice, a number of vegetables like eggplant, the cucurbits, beans, fruits like jackfruit, banana, mango and citrus, spices like chilli, ginger and turmeric, root crops like taros and yams, etc. There are also a good number of timber and medicinal plants indigenous to the country. The use of medicinal plants in Bangladesh has an ancient history.

The diverse agro-ecological regions of the country have sustained rich genetic

resources of crop plants, which are unique to the country. To varied environments, continuous selection by the farmers and maintenance of promising types over a long period of time, have resulted in a large number of agro-ecotypes, which are adapted to the various agro-ecological regions and growing conditions. Bangladesh is considered to be one of the centres of origin of cultivated rice. It has rich varietal diversity of landraces and wild rice. There are ethnic or tribal people living in Bangladesh who have also their own special rice for their own purposes. Threat to Genetic Resources

The world genetic diversity is in danger of being lost with the advent of modern agriculture; locally adapted crop landraces and traditional varieties have been replaced by the widespread use of genetically uniform high yielding varieties. There is overwhelming evidence in the literature to indicate that genetic diversity is eroding in many areas of the world. This situation is very much aggravated in Bangladesh, where high population

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density prevails, unplanned urbanization and massive deforestation is a common scenario. Natural calamities are occurring almost every year it is one of the causes of genetic erosion. The factors responsible for genetic erosion in Bangladesh are many and each of these plays a part in the erosion of genetic resources. These are listed below:

• Unplanned conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses. • Urbanisation and human population growth. • Use of high yielding crop varieties at the expense of traditional

varieties/landraces. • Riverbank erosion, leading not only to the direct loss of land and homesteads

along with biodiversity but also to driving the affected peoples out to areas previously used for agriculture or left for wild/forest flora.

• Disappearance of backyard forests due to scarcity of land. • Construction of flood control embankments leading to habitat destruction. • Unscrupulous forest clearance and over exploitation of forest species. • Hill cutting. • Construction of barrage leading to water stress downstream affecting

biodiversity. • Environmental effects – cyclones, tidal surges, environmental pollution, and sea

level rise, and salinity increase in coastal areas. • Plant diseases (especially red rot disease in sugarcane has been identified as a

major cause of loss of sugarcane diversity) Importance of Genetic Resources

Future progress in crop improvement and our food security depends to a great extent on immediate conservation of the rapidly vanishing crop genetic resources and their sustainable utilization by plant breeders. The lack of sound national plant genetic resources conservation strategies, sufficient funding and adequate trained human resources are the major impediments in proper management of plant genetic resources of the country.

Land races and traditional varieties constitute an invaluable reservoir of genes that

are needed by plant breeders for development of desirable crop varieties. The wild species and relatives of crop plants contain valuable genes that are of immense value as genetic resources for future use in crop improvement programmes. Hence, duly recognizing the prime importance of these valuable resources, their scientific management, including systematic survey, collection, characterization, conservation and sustainable utilization has been considered essential in the national system.

Organisation involved with the Conservation of PGR

National Agricultural Research Institutes are involved conserving and evaluating

Plant Genetic Resources. Public agricultural universities are also conserving PGR especially horticultural crops. Some private organisations conserve genetic resources of special types of crops. The organisations responsible for conservation of PGR are given in Table 1.

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The State of Use of Plant Genetic Resources

Characterization and evaluation work is still in preliminary phases in Bangladesh. Studies on core collections are yet to take off. However, the number of germplasm used for breeding, seed enhancement and supply by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) was 590 accessions, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) about 20,000 accessions, Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) about 30, Cotton Development Board 130, Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute (BASRI) about 229, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) about 2915, East West Seed (Bd) Limited 5,263 and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University used 547. Research on establishment of methodologies for core collections should be initiated with backstopping support from regional and international organizations. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council has established the national network and is actively involved in PGRFA activities. Some survey and inventory work have already been undertaken by stakeholder institutions/organization. Support is needed for strengthening and for widening survey and inventory work.

Table 1.

Organisations Responsibility Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute Bangladesh Rice Research Institute Bangladesh Jute Research Institute Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture Bangladesh Tea Research Institute Bangladesh Forest Research Institute Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute

NARS; public research institute: Collection, conservation and utilization of

Genetic resources and breeders seed production.

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council Coordination and Policy Cotton Development Board Research & development of cotton;

Germplasm evaluation; Seed production. Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation

Govt. seed multiplication agency

Department of Agriculture Extension Govt. extension department & farm level seed production.

Bangladesh National Herbarium Surveying and recording of germplasm 1.Bangladesh Agricultural University 2.Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University

Teaching, variety development & collection, conservation & utilization of germplasm

1.Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee 2.East-West Seed Company Ltd

Seed business and variety development

Upokalio Unnayan Shahojogy On-farm conservation Ministry of Agriculture Policy

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Priority Activity Areas for Bangladesh

Bangladesh has made some progress on the collection of PGR of different crops during the last decade. But there are many things to do for proper utilization of PGR. Some of the priority activity areas on PGRFA are shown below:

• Establishment of National Centre for PGRFA for conservation, use and enhancement of biodiversity

• Development of national framework for PGRFA • An assessment of genetic diversity and the extent of PGR erosion • Documentation of all available information related to PGR for users • Strengthening of coordination among different stakeholders • Human resources development and capacity building in PGR activities • Collection and characterization of PGR • Preservation facilities (in situ, on-farm, ex situ, in vitro, cryo-preservation) for

genetic material. • Biochemical and molecular characterization of germplasm • Introduction of course curricula on PGR in universities and other relevant

educational institutions • Formalization of Biodiversity and community knowledge protection Act and

Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Protection Act, other PGR related policy documents.

• Training on: in situ methodologies, regeneration and conservation, marker aided characterization, information technology for database management and information sharing on conservation and sustainable utilization of PGR, genebank management.

• Development of an early warning system on genetic erosion • Entrepreneurship development and marketing skills with regard to PGR resources • Creation of public awareness about the importance of PGR and promotion of its

traditional and diverse use • Establishment of regional and international collaboration for the development of

national programme on PGR.

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Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture System in Bhutan

Asta M. Tamang,

Deputy Chief Biodiversity Officer, Bhutan National Genebank, National Biodiversity Centre, Serbithang, Thimphu, Bhutan.

1. Bhutan is gifted with enormous floral diversity: In view of the fact that Bhutan

is has diverse ecosystems and ecological zones with diverse altitudinal variation ranging from elevation of 200m in the south to 7500 m, Bhutan is gifted with enormous crop diversity (both wild and domestic) in the diverse topography of the country that has both regional and global importance.

It is difficult to differentiate accurately and count the exact number of

landraces of each crop as systematic characterisation using both morphological and marker techniques or DNA finger printing is crucial to ascertain actual genetic diversity of each crop in the country which will kick start within on-going 10 Five Year Plan period. However, based on folk classification in naming of landraces and information on characteristics provided by farmers through inventory in the field, a summary of the total traditional varieties or landraces of different field crops is given (Table 1). The number of landraces possibly will increase for some crops as we continue germplasm collection from different parts of the country.

2. Genetic Erosion: Though Bhutan is blessed with enormous diversity of PGRFA, this agro-biological wealth is gradually disappearing despite the tremendous benefits and potentials they are gifted with. There are a number of factors and interacting factors directly or indirectly leading to genetic erosion of this agro-biological wealth. The various factors include displacement of indigenous landraces by new, genetically uniform varieties, switch from diverse traditional systems to few market orientated cash crops, destruction of habitats due to urbanization, wild animal damages on crops, drought/untimely rain/shortage of irrigation facilities, change of land use pattern, low yield, land clearing/landslides and habitat loss/soil erosion problems, shortage of labour, erosion of food culture etc.

3. Bhutan’s commitment to Biodiversity Conservation: In view of the fact that plant genetic resources are the agro-biological wealth of the country and are critical for ensuring the long term food security and sustainable development of the country, biodiversity conservation is one of the 4 pillars of Bhutan’s unique developmental philosophy of Gross National Happiness. To conserve our crop and plant varieties, Bhutan through the National Biodiversity Centre is committed towards long-term preservation of genetic resources, combining both approaches of ex situ through the Gene Bank and in situ or on-farm conservation that allows continuous evolution and improvement in a complementary way to conserve plant genetic resources before they are lost from the fields forever.

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Table 1. Total traditional varieties/landraces/farmers’ varieties under each crop recorded. Sl. no

Crop Scientific name No.of landraces/TVs

1 Rice Oryza sativa 281 2 Maize Zea mays 81 3 Barley Hordeum vulgare 32 4 Buckwheat (Sweet) Fagopyrum esculentum 10 5 Buckwheat (Bitter) Fagopyrum tataricum 11 6 Finger millet Eleusine coracana 37 7 Foxtail millet Setaria italica 36 8 Little millet Panicum miliacium 4 9 Wheat Triticum aestivum 26 10 Amaranthus Amaranthus 17 11 Beans Phaselus vulgaris 76 12 Soybean Glycine max 11 13 Dal Vigna mungo

V. angularis V. umbellatta V. unguiculata

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14 Pegion pea Cajanus cajan 1 15 Peas Pisum sativum 5 16 Mustard and

rapeseeds Brasssica campestris var. toria and Brassica campestris var. sarson

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17 Niger Guizotia abyssinica 1 18 Perilla Perilla frutescens 2 19 Ground nut Arachis hypogaea 1 20 Sesame Sesamum indicum 1

Source: Plant Genetic Resources of Bhutan, 2008.

The Bhutan National Gene Bank was established in 2005. As of January 2008, a total of 2,000 samples of traditional varieties of rice, maize, wheat, buckwheat, barley, millets, oil seed crops, legumes have been collected. The collected germplasm are cleaned, sample quality evaluated, processed, information documented in access database called Genebank Information System (GBIS) and germplasm samples are stored in the Gene bank at -20oC. A total of 1,000 accessions are registered in the Gene Bank as of January 2008, while other samples are being processed. The figure 1 presents the process and events in Genebank management.

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Fig 1. Process and events in the Gene bank

Seed Registration & Seed Cleaning

Seed Drying

Seed Packing

Seed Regeneration

Sample Testing: Seed Moisture%, seed viability, sample purity, sample

Distribution from active collection

Monitoring

Registration/Documentation

Germplasm collection from all the

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There are two types of collections ‘Active’ and ‘Base’ both maintained at -20oC. The samples from the ‘Active Collections’ are used for distribution to the users, researchers, breeders etc. The samples from the ‘Base Collections’ is for security and will be used only for monitoring of viability of stored seeds or for regeneration or to replenish the active collections. Collected samples will have to be characterized with the use of molecular tools to ascertain actual genetic diversity.

On-farm conservation is promoted with triple gem concept of ‘Production’, ‘Accessibility’ and ‘Marketing’ (PAM) by way of adding value to landraces. Value addition is being done towards (1). Enhancement of yield through sustainable farming practices, seed exchange through Biodiversity Fairs, strengthening farmers PGR management system, strengthen capacity of Extension Officers and research partners, (2). Product development and diversification, and (3). Marketing. Information on on-farm conservation activities are documented in the form of reports.

Therefore, both ex situ and on-farm strategies are complementary to each other in order to have genetic insurance against biological disasters to contribute to food security and sustainable development.

4. Way forward: a. Information documentation system needs to be upgraded in order to

facilitate easy documentation and access to information/information sharing. b. In-vitro Active (IVA) and In-vitro Base (IVB) should be established to

conserve those crops with recalcitrant seeds and those that can be propagated only through vegetative means.

c. Facilities should be established for preservation of duplicate collections. d. Systematic characterisation should be taken up to sort out duplicates and

assess total genetic diversity. e. On-farm conservation program should be taken up in a holistic approach in

specific sites. f. Documentation system to be developed for on-farm conservation programs. g. Strengthen technical capacity of both Research and Extension partners both

in terms of field activities and information documentation.

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Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Cambodia

Ouk Makara and Sakhan Sophany Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)

Situated in the tropics, Cambodia experiences a monsoonal climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. The wet season extends from May to October, while the dry season runs from November to April. The good rainfall may occur during May to October. However, rainfall is extremely erratic and mini droughts may be experienced during any of these months. A monsoonal climate suites growth of many agricultural crops, but the most important is rice. Conservation and Utilization

Being close to the centre of origin, Cambodian farmers have been growing

thousands of local rice varieties for at least 2000 years. Through natural selection, rice is grown across agro-ecosystems from upland to water depth as much as five meters. Recently, upland and deepwater rice covers about 4% of the total production area (2.58 million ha in 2007). Upland rice are grown mainly in the north and north-east of Cambodia, while deepwater rice is concentrated more on the edges of lakes where water is deeper than that in the higher fields. Irrigated rice with fully irrigation, supplemented irrigation, and recession rice covers about 13% of the total production area and is mainly concentrated in the lower part of the Mekong and Basac rivers. The remaining area is covered by rainfed lowland rice which is grown mainly in the central plain around the Tonle Sap lake and on the lower streams of the Mekong and Basac rivers.

Conservation program for rice genetic resource of Cambodia was initiated since

the early 1970s during which 756 accessions of traditional cultivars being collected and stored at IRRI (Sahai et al., 1992a). The second conservation program was carried out between 1989 and 1990 which resulted in the conservation of 1270 accessions (Sahai et al., 1992a). The third rice germplasm conservation was done from 1990 to 1991. Of 1600 collected samples (from 13 provinces) only 348 which appeared new were sorted out and given accession number (Sahai et al., 1992b). The fourth collection was performed between 1992 and 1997 in 19 provinces. A total of 939 accessions were conserved (Javier et al., 1999). So far a total of 3322 (756+2557) rice accessions are being long-term conserved at IRRI, the Philippines and 2557 accessions at the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Cambodia for medium term conservation.

Among 2557 accessions conserved at CARDI, 88% are rainfed lowland, 10.6% are

rainfed upland, 1.2% are deepwater and floating and 0.2% are irrigated rice. Rice accessions are most sensitive to photoperiod (60% are strong, 31% are moderate, 4% are mild and 5% are insensitive to photoperiod), pre-dominantly non-glutinous (92%) and those having mild to strong scent constitute about 10%.

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After evaluation, most of the accessions have been directly and indirectly used in breeding program. Direct use refers to the use of local varieties through pure line or mass selection. More than thousand local varieties have been purified and tested across different growing conditions and over many years. So far a total of 17 varieties have been released. Nine varieties are intermediate maturity and the others are late maturity. Four are aromatic rice with good grain and eating quality. The production area of the released varieties is significantly increased, and among those CAR3, CAR4, CAR6, CAR8, Riang Chey, Phka Rumduol and Phka Romeat are widely used by farmers.

Some of good varieties collected are used as parents for hybridization to improve

grain quality, yield potential and recently for drought tolerance. Since 1989, hundreds of crosses were made with improved high yielding varieties (semi-dwarf type) that have been developed by IRRI and other rice research institutes. Thousands of breeding lines have been selected throughout the selection process and hundreds of them have been tested for their performance across locations and over years. Beside that more than 30 accessions and breeding lines have been sent to INGER, IRRI as sharing germplasm.

Conservation of the other crops has also been started by CARDI. There are 150

samples of banana, 23 samples of cassava, 22 samples of sugarcane, 9 samples of sweet potato and 8 samples of papaya being preserved at CARDI. All conserved samples are used by the breeding program for their broad adaptation. Documentation and Information System

All rice accessions have been evaluated for 52 agro-morphological characters and

well documented in three rice catalogues (Sahai et al., 1992a; Sahai et al., 1992b and Javier et al., 1999). This information is also entered in databases in the plant breeding division of CARDI and in Gene bank of IRRI. There is no proper characterization for other crops yet.

Except rice, the management of plant genetic resources in Cambodia is relatively

poor and not well-organized. Improving capacity of human resources in plant genetic resource conservation and utilization, creating effective network, development of sustainable database management and conservation facilities are the immediate challenge. References

Javier, L.E., Men, S., Pith, K.H., Khun, L.H., Say, P., Sin, S., Ouk, M., Hun, Y., Suy, S., Thun, V., Sidhu, G.S., Mishra, D.P., Sahai, V.N., Chaudhary, R.C. and Ledesma, D.R. (1999). Rice Germplasm Catalog of Cambodia III. Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project. PO Box 01, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Sahai, V.N., Chaudhary, R.C. and Sin, S. (1992a). Rice Germplasm Catalog of Cambodia I. Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project. P.O. Box 01, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Sahai, V.N., Chaudhary, R.C. and Sin, S. (1992b). Rice Germplasm Catalog of Cambodia II. Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project. P.O. Box 01, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

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Plant Genetic Resources Information in India

S.K.Sharma National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources,

Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012

Introduction The vast amount of very useful information on PGR activities throughout the

country in India had been gathered and documented in the NISM-GPA database (through earlier GCP/RAS/186/JPN project of FAO), which has now been made accessible to the public through the NISM website. The excellent leadership was played by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India in the establishment of NISM-GPA. About 114 stakeholders from around the country were contacted by NBPGR to discuss and share knowledge about the GPA, the purposes and the activities of the NISM-GPA and to commit stakeholders to collaborate in establishing the Mechanism.

The information and data presented in a well synthesized NISM report helped in

effective planning of projects and identifying priority areas in plant genetic resources in India. The establishment of the NISM-GPA also enhanced coordination and collaboration of activities, and reduced duplication of efforts among the various agencies in India.

Some of the important points related to Information systems on PGR, its networks,

education on PGR activities are given below. The PGR Network in India

The Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) and ICAR deals

with all aspects including policy, research, conservation, sustainable use, education, training and extension related to domesticated and economically important plants. The NBPGR acts as a nodal organization under the ICAR for planning, conducting, coordinating and promoting all activities concerning PGR of agricultural and horticultural crops and their wild relatives. The Bureau has headquarters at New Delhi and 10 regional/base centres in different agro-climatic zones of the country. The NBPGR also maintains international linkage and cooperation based on joint memoranda of understanding and work plans signed by DARE/ ICAR with agencies of other countries and international centers.

The NBPGR, being the single window for PGR exchange for research purposes, also performs regulatory functions as the authorized agency for Post-entry Plant Quarantine examination, issuance of Phytosanitary Certificates and issuance of Import Permit for introduction of germplasm for research as per the PFS Order that was revised in the light of World Trade Organization Agreements and the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order 2003 that came into force with effect from April 1, 2004.

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The Bureau has developed and operates the Indian Plant Genetic Resources Management System (IPGeRMS) in the form of network encompassing NBPGR and 57 National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS) located at the various Institutes, Project Directorates Coordinating Units, National Research Centres of ICAR, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and other stakeholders, such as NGOs and professional societies carrying out activities related to PGR management. The major activities of IPGeRMS for effective management of PGR include germplasm acquisition, characterization, evaluation, documentation and conservation in which NBPGR plays the leading role. The strength of IPGeRMS lies in the synergistic approach established for the maintenance of active collections (collections comprising accessions immediately available for multiplication, distribution and use) at the crop based NAGs for use in crop improvement. Regular workshops and meetings of concerned persons and organizations are being held to review national activities on conservation and use of PGRFA. The number of technical, legal and managerial/policy experts working in the various National Programmes in India are currently stable but on a decreasing trend. Information systems

Software for Genebank Information Management System (GBIMS), Plant Genetic

Resources Passport Information Management System (PGRPIMS), Electronic catalogues for the recording of the evaluation/characterization data, database for the inventorization of import and export of the accessions, Tissue Culture Information System, Notified and Released Varieties Information System (NORV), Indian Information System as per DUS Guidelines (IINDUS) have been developed at NBPGR and this complete information is being documented using the Relational Database Management System (RDBSM) tools and is being used by the concerned PGR researchers for the management of the genetic resources. In addition to these Information Systems, India has developed a database on “National Information Sharing Mechanism” which is available through the NISM website available at www.nbpgr.ernet.in. Education and training

Realising the increasing importance of activities related to PGR in the changing

global scenario, NBPGR in collaboration with Indian Agricultural Research Institute started M.Sc. (PGR) degree programme in 1997 and Ph.D. programme in 2004. In addition, training of professionals is imparted under the Team of Excellence in PGR Training, On-job Training Programmes and Awareness Training Programmes organised regularly. In addition, organisations dealing with curricula of schools and colleges, namely, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MoHRD), University Grant Commission (UGC) and National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT) interacts effectively with other ministries and organisations concerned with biodiversity issues for introducing and expanding environmental concepts, themes, issue etc. at the university and school levels. Thus, although there is sufficient existence of educational and training programmes incorporating PGR aspects both at the regional and national level, training and education opportunities are regularly needed in the country for effective PGRFA conservation and utilization. Special training programmes are required in specialised areas such as on farm conservation, molecular taxonomy, biotechnological approaches for effective conservation, statistical methodologies and GIS application for diversity mapping and remote sensing in PGR management.

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Public awareness The level of public awareness on the importance of PGRFA conservation in the

country is satisfactory, however, literacy about various international agreements and national legislations with regard to plant genetic resources needs strengthening. To achieve this, policy papers and concept notes will have to be developed, widely distributed and debated in workshops, seminars and refresher courses to be organized involving all stakeholders. In addition to the scientific organisations, NGOs and individuals are also involved in public awareness activities in the country and aspects related to PGRFA are being integrated into the pre-secondary and secondary educational curricula. The important role of mass media to generate public awareness has to be fully recognised and appreciated. Conclusions

In the present project we need to include more stakeholders (approximately

150) representing different government departments and ministries, research and educational institutions, private sectors, NGOs and international organizations in the country. As much of the information related to in situ activities/programmes could not be collected in the first phase of NISM, we intend to include the stakeholders actively involved in in situ related programmes.

The present project to establish a country driven, Asia-wide system that will

assist the GPA-PGRFA as a support for sustainable agricultural development in the Asian region.

This Bureau finds the present project (GCP/RAS/240/JPN) as a excellent

support for sustainable agricultural development in the Asian region and very useful for the capacity building in the area of conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA and enhanced regional collaboration for the same in Asia. We shall extend all possible help in establishment of country-driven Asia-wide NISM-GPA network, for sharing information on PGRFA activities and improving coordination and partnership among and within countries.

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Plant Genetic Resources Information System in Indonesia

Sutrisno Director of Indonesian Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources

Research and Development Executive Chair of National Committee for Genetic Resources

Indonesian biodiversity

Indonesia is a mega diversity country, located between the Asian continent

(Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan) and Australian continent (Papua) and includes the Wallace line (Celebes, Maluku and Nusa Tenggara). Indonesia has 17,000 islands with an estimate 1,826,440 km2 land (1.3 % of world land). The land is occupied by more than 38,000 of plants species (55% endemic). 477 species of palm (225 endemic), 350 species of Dipterocarpaceae, economic woody trees (155 endemic) (www.bk.menlh.go.id). The land has plants for food and houses. The people of Indonesia consumes not less than 100 of plants species that produces grains and tuber; not less than 100 species of legumes, 450 species of fruits and 250 species of vegetables and edible mushroom, while 940 plant species can be used as traditional medicine (www.bk.menlh.go.id). More than 100 woody species, 56 species of bamboo and 150 species of rattan have been used to for housing and home appliances (www.bk.menlh.go.id).

In Indonesia, many stakeholders are involved in the management of biodiversity

(including plant genetic resources for food and agriculture). The stakeholders are government, private, non government, community, and individual. To strengthen the capacity in the management of biodiversity and plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, Indonesia has joined the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA); Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture; and Regional Center for Southeast Asia on Plant Genetic Resources (RECSEA-PGR). In relation to the preparation of the 12th Session CGRFA, a draft of national report on the 2nd State of PGRFA in Indonesia has been submitted to FAO secretariat.

Stakeholders in Indonesia share information on the management of PGRFA

through hard copy publications and websites. The following are examples of sharing information carried out by stakeholders in Indonesia: Government

To manage Indonesia biodiversity, in 2003 the National Development Planning

Agency has developed an Indonesian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The action includes enabling communities to access accurate data and information on the function and potentials of biodiversity and the development and dissemination of biodiversity information network. Some information on the Indonesian biodiversity can be obtained from the Indonesians Clearing House Mechanism for Biodiversity (www.bk.menlh.go.id) hosted by Ministry of Environment as national focal point on CBD.

This website contains the National Report of CBD Implementation in Indonesia

which includes some information on the implementation of global strategy for plant conservation, agro biodiversity and forest biodiversity. The Ministry of Environment is

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also encouraging every province to establish a Biodiversity Garden, a collection of plant species specific in a certain province.

The NBIN (National Biodiversity Information Network) also contained some

information on Indonesian biodiversity. Indonesian NBIN is an integrated body of Clearing House Mechanism established in the Ministry of Environment as the National Focal Point for the Convention on Biological Diversity in Indonesia. The NBIN hosted by Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences and has 32 nodes of institutes from different departments (www.nbin.lipi.go.id/). Out of 32 nodes or institutes, 10 nodes work on plant genetic resources. The Indonesian Institute of Sciences is also supervising the establishment and maintenance of the National Garden, an in situ conservation activity in the provinces.

Some information on the forest plant genetic resources is available from

Directorate General of Plant Protection and Nature Conservation (www.ditjenphka.go.id); Agency for Forestry Research and Development (www.forda-mof.org); Center for International Forestry Research, CIFOR (www.cifor.org). The available information dealing with at least one of the PGRFA-GPA, namely: in situ conservation and development; ex situ conservation; utilization of plant genetic resources; institutions and capacity building.

ICABIOGRAD (Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic

Resources Research and Development) is an institute under the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD), Ministry of Agriculture. ICABIOGRAD has developed a web-based Germplasm Information System to share germplasm characteristic data for online users. The characteristic data obtained from agricultural germplasm-managing institutions within IAARD (www.litbang.deptan.go.id). IAARD coordinate 19 research institutes that are working on plant genetic resources. The data of 19 research institute is compiled and may be accessed by the users by mechanism regulated by ICABIOGRAD (www.indobiogen.litbang.deptan.go.id).

National Committee on Genetic Resources (NCGR) in Indonesia is established by

Ministry of Agriculture since 1976. One of the tasks of NCGR is to encourage the establishment of committee of genetic resources at every province, so called Province Committee of Genetic Resources (PCGR). NCGR has developed software for database of plant genetic resources and shared to all institutes under the IAARD and the PCGR. The training on how to use the software has also been provided. The NCGR compile and share the database through website (www.indoplasma.or.id). For example, Yogyakarta Province work on farm conservation of banana and jackfruits (www.pemda-diy.go.id).

Several Directorate General and Secretary General of Ministry of Agriculture also

share the information on plant genetic resources, such as Center for Plant Variety Protection share concerning with registration of local variety and commercial varieties that had been granted protection (www.ppvt.setjen.deptan.go.id), Directorate General of Horticulture share the information on the utilization of horticulture crops (www.hortikultura.deptan.go.id), Directorate General of Estate Crops share information on the utilization of estate crops (www.ditjenbun.deptan.go.id), Directorate General of Food Crops share information on the utilization of food crops (www.ditjentan.deptan.go.id).

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Several universities in Indonesia there have a faculty of agriculture or faculty of forestry or faculty of biology also share the information on the utilization of plant genetic resources for research and development through the web site, for example Bogor Agricultural University (www.ipb.ac.id); Gadjah Mada University (www.ugm.ac.id); Bandung Technology Institute (www.itb.ac.id); and University of Indonesia (www.ui.ac.id). Private sector

Taman Buah Mekarsari (Mekarsari Fruits Park) is a park contained many species

of fruits. This park is a place for tourists who like to see and enjoy the fruits with their family (www.mekarsari.com). Warso Farm is another fruits park specializing on Durian fruits (www.puncakview.com/Durian-Warso.htm).

Taman Bunga Nusantara (Nusantara Flowers park) is a park where the flowers of

the world grow. The tourist can enjoy the beauty of many kinds of flowers (www.tamanbunganusantara.com).

Recently, several private companies established on farm conservation for palm oils

genetic resources. Non government officials

Several stake holders other than the government have also played an important role

in the implementation of the Global Plan Action of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. For example, Yayasan Keanekaragaman Hayati (Indonesia Biodiversity Foundation, IBF) established in 2004 is a non profit organization who manage grant fund for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Indonesia. IBF is a catalyst in discovering innovative ways to manage and sustainably use biodiversity. IBF collaborate with government institution, NGO, basins community, professional association, and mass media to implement it function (www.kehati.or.id). Community

Several communities have participated in the management of PGRFA. For

example, Masyarakat Adat Hutan Wonosadi (Culture Community Wonasadi Forest), Yogyakarta Province, a winner of biodiversity award 2009 has maintained and saved 25 Ha Wonosadi culture forest over 44 years. The forest contained several plants species for food, wood, grasses, medicinal, and horticulture (www.kehati.or.id). Individual

Several individuals have also work on the utilization of PGRFA. For example, Maryono who was one of the receivers of a biodiversity award in 2009 started to established his company namely “PT. Samal Nusantara” since 2004 to produce herbal products. Since then he motivated and coordinated 150 farmers at Sebokarang, Yogyakarta, Central of Java to grow 59 kinds of rare herbals. He facilitates and assists in the processing and marketing of the herbal products.

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Another example, Saein who lives in Bukateja, Purbalingga, Central Java, and was also one of the receivers of a biodiversity award in 2009. As an educated farmer, he bred rice through several crossing and yielded 10 new rice varieties. One of his variety has characteristic of a good eating quality, resistance to bacterial leaf blight, has yield potential 7 ton/ha. The future establishment of NISM-GPA in Indonesia

The establishment of NISM-GPA for PGRFA in Indonesia is very beneficial since

it may function as one stop service on the access of information on NISM-GPA. This effort is very challenging because although many stake holders (government, non government, private sector, community, and individual) hold on some extent of an information on plant genetic resources, but few stake holders dealing with all elements of GPA-PGRFA (in situ conservation, ex situ conservation, utilization of plant genetic resources, institution and capacity building). The other challenge we faced in the establishment of NISM-GPA is to motivate the willingness of stakeholders to work together nationally. We hope this project will provide a significant contribution in initiating the establishment of NISM-GPA in Indonesia.

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Malaysia experience in the implementation of NISM Project

Tosiah Sadi1 and N. Mohd Shukor2 1Senior Research Officer, Strategic Resource Research Center, Mardi Headquarters,

Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Principal Research Officer and Deputy Director, Strategic Resource Research Center,

Mardi Headquarters, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Introduction Malaysia was one of the 155 countries that met in Leipzig, Germany in June, 1996 and adopted the Global Plan of Action (GPA) as the way forward for the conservation and sustainable utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA).

Malaysia, along with six other member countries, namely Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Thailand, was involved in the first phase of the project (GCP/RAS/186/JPN) with the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries (MOA) of Malaysia as the National Focal Point for the project and MARDI is the implementing agency. Implementation mechanism

The main objective of the NISM project is to share information related to Malaysian plant genetic resources and, in particular, the implementation of the Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Malaysia. The project involved 3 main phases; Phase I: Preparatory In this phase, the activities cover the initial meeting, the first SHs meeting and the appointment of the Steering Committee, translation of the software (indicators) into Malay language, filling initial information in common table and several awareness seminars. The phase took 12 months to complete and at the end, twenty eight stakeholders (SHs) were willing to participate. Phase II: Implementation The implementation phase took about 14 months. The activities covered in this phase were, the updating and validation of information on common tables, creating SHs compact discs, training of SHs on the use of the NISM-GPA Computer Application Training (CAT), clarification of what are indicators and reporting format for monitoring the GPA implementation and merging zip files from the SHs. To ensure the success of the project MARDI’s technical staff members responsible in running and managing the NISM-GPA visited the SH that need assistance on the computer application onsite. Beside that special email addressed mygpa@mardi.my was also created for ease of contact.

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Phase III: Data Analysis and Reporting

The activities in this phase include validating information, data analyses, writing of report and the presentation of the report to the SHs, development of the GPA webpage and placement of NISM-GPA for access to the interested parties. The webpage can be accessed at http://mega.mardi.my/gpa/mys/index.html. The phase took 6 months to complete. Problems Some of the important problems identified during the implementation of the project are:

1. The indicators are not properly defined and explained to both project team members and stakeholders. Confusion and misunderstand sometimes occur on the part of project team members as well as the SHs. Therefore, this aspect needs to be looked into in the next phase

2. Data entry, validation and steps to extract information from the database activities is very complicated and not user friendly. Although the computer application is useful in gathering and merging information but it still can not accomplish certain important functions (e.g. generating reports for dissemination).

Suggested remedies

Followings are some suggestions to improve the implementation of the project in Malaysia: 1. More SHs should involve in the second iteration. 2. Thorough trainings on the use of software, indicators, etc for project team members and

representative of the stakeholders. The SHs upon their return to their respective organizations are encouraged to train other colleagues in the use of the Computer Application for the GPA with the active support of the National Focal Point.

3. There is a need to set up a core team who can analyze the data and make a concrete recommendation to the policy makers with respect to future PGR System for Malaysia to ensure the objectives of GPA, ITPGRFA and CBD be achieved.

4. To continue to create appropriate avenues and fora to transmit results from the project to politicians, and decision and policy makers, to ensure they understand and continue to support the efforts in PGRFA conservation and utilization.

5. To formalize the information Sharing Mechanism in all stakeholder institutions to facilitate information release and exchange.

6. To encourage Government to make financial commitment to the Information Sharing Mechanism on PGRFA in its budget process.

7. It is suggested that the system be operated in real-time globally with more user-friendly interface and data generated should be displayed in easy spreadsheet table base on user query. FAO should play key role in realizing this. Search functions of the common table also need to be improved to a simpler interface.

8. For the meantime Malaysia, MARDI in particular will maintain the webpage and the database using the funding given to us. Activities in promoting the database and the importance of information sharing in PGFRA will also be held.

Acknowledgements Authors would like to thank the Government of Japan for the providing the financial support, FAO as the Project Regional Coordinator, Director General of MARDI for giving the permission to present this paper.

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The current status of National Plant Genetic Resources Conservation in Mongolia

N. Bayarsukh1 and J. Namjilsuren2

1Deputy Director, Plant Science and Agriculture Research Training Institute, Darkhan-Uul, Mongolia

2Head, Plant Genetic Resources Division, Plant Science and Agriculture Research Training Institute, Darkhan-Uul, Mongolia

1. Introduction

Mongolia a land locked country is located in Central Asia bordered by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the South, East and West and Russian Federation to the North. Mongolia covers a total area of 1,566,500 square kilometers and elevation ranges from 560 meters above see level to 4565m with an average altitude of 1580m. Mongolia is situated between latitude 41.33o and 52.06o north.

Mongolia’s has an extreme continental climate. The watershed that crosses

Mongolia’s northern region divides the country into 2 unequal parts with dissimilar climate. The northern section continues the east Siberian natural scenery while the southern sector, taking up 2/3 of the country’s area, belongs to the steppe, semi-desert and desert of Central Asia.

The average year sees 250 fine and only 9-23 cloudy days. The average annual

temperature fluctuates between -5.3oC and +4oC. The maximum temperature is reached in July. The average temperature in summer ranges from +12oC to +20oC for most of the country but can rise to +25oC in the south. The maximum temperature reaches between +35oC and +39oC in the north and +38oC to +41oC in the south. The minimum temperatures are in January with an average of about -15oC over most of the country and -25oC in the north. The lowest temperature recorded so far is -53oC and highest is 41oC. The vegetation growing period is 88-110 days. The average annual precipitation is 250-300mm in the north and 60-90mm in the south.

The short growing season, low precipitation and high evaporation are the

overriding constraints in Mongolian agriculture. Particularly, unseasonable frosts and severe drought can cause harvest losses of 10 to 30%.

Due to its geographical location and climatic conditions as well as the large

territory Mongolia possesses rich diversity of plant species and agricultural crops. In total, there are 2823 species of vascular plants belonging to 662 genera in 128

families in Mongolia. There are also 417 species of moss belonging to 162 genera, 32 families, and 930 species of lichen belonging to 133 genera and 39 families, 875 species of fungi in 136 genera and 28 families as well as 971 species of algae belonging to 221 genera in 60 families.

The total human population is 2.4 million. There are approximately 520,000

families of which 170,000 are herders. About 51% of population lives in urban areas and 40% live in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, with a population of 812,500. The birth rate is 2.06% and death rate is 0.66%. There are 20 ethnic groups although there are very few differences in languages. The main religion is Buddhism (94% of population). The

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Mongolian economy is primarily based on the livestock breeding, agriculture and the mining industry.

Mongolia adopted a parliamentary political system in 1992. The highest organ of

state power and the supreme legislative power is State Ikh Hural. The State Ikh Hural consists of 76 members that are selected by the citizens. The Prime Minister of Mongolia is the head of the Government. Administratively, Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces and 3 city areas.

2. Overview of the agricultural statistics of Mongolia

Agriculture is a major economic sector of Mongolia and the country’s economy is very much dependent on the development of agricultural production. The share of the agricultural produce in the gross domestic product (GDP) was on average 36.3% between 1994 and 2000 whereas it went down to 26.0% in 2001 and 20.1% in 2002. In respective years, the summer was dry and the grass was not abundant across most of the country, the cereal harvest was low.

Crop production in Mongolia includes wheat, barley for food and fodder, oats for

fodder, maize for silage, sunflower, potatoes, 20 types of vegetables, silage, and annual and perennial leguminous crops.

In Mongolia, the estimated annual consumption of flour is 241,200 tons requiring

350,000 tons of wheat in addition to 15,000 tons of grain for spirit production and 70-75,000 tons of seed wheat which is a total annual requirement of 425-430,000 tons of wheat. To produce this would require a non-irrigated area of about 350-400,000 ha for wheat. Wheat flour and wheat products represent 46% of daily food consumption in urban households and 70% in rural households. As such, it is considered an essential food item and has been categorized as a “strategic food product” under the Mongolian Law on Food. As wheat comprises 75% of the cropped area and 73% of total crop production, it emphasizes the importance of wheat in the agricultural sector.

There is also lower consumption of vegetables and potatoes compared with wheat

flour as a daily food source for humans. Mongolia’s annual demand for vegetables is approximately 100,000 tons of potatoes and 160,000 tons of other vegetables and it requires 8000-10,000 ha for potatoes and similar area for vegetables.

Before 1990 Mongolia was self-sufficient in crop production and met the country’s

needs in grain crops, potato and vegetable production and also surplus production was exported. In 1990 481,400 hectares were sown with grain crops and 718,300 tons of cereals were harvested, 131,000 tons of potatoes were collected from 12,200 hectares and 41,700 tons of vegetables were gathered from 3,600 hectares.

Since 1990, Mongolia entered into a free market economy system and state owned

crop production enterprises disintegrated into the small private farms. During this transition period most of the private farms were not able to function normally and follow the technology requirements because of a shortage of circulating capital, machineries were old and not effective for small farms in addition intensification measures were not taken. This is one of the major factors causing decrease in crop yield. On the other hand, since 1998 Mongolia suffered severe continuous drought and extreme winter cold for 4 - 5

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years. This natural disaster weakened all farmers and herders and many of them becoming bankrupt.

In recent years, Mongolia cultivated only 30% of total registered arable land and

produced only 24.9% of the total required grain, 86% of potato and 47% of vegetables locally. This is due to the negative impacts of climate changes, and the lack of financial capacity of crop farmers and reduction of available professional agriculturalists and other adverse conditions affecting agriculture production.

In 2008, Mongolia cultivated cereals on 155,000 ha, 11,900 ha of potato,

vegetables on 6,400 ha, oil crops on 12,200 ha and animal fodder crops on 6,400 ha. As a result of the direct impact of the Government program on “Rehabilitation of the Crop Sector”, in 2008 the estimated harvest for cereal grains was 200,600 tons, for potatoes 143,600 tons, for vegetables 81,600 tons, for oil crops 12,100 tons and for animal forage crops 16,100 tons and this supplied the 49.1% of the total domestic demand for cereal grains, 104% of potato, and 48.5% of vegetables.

With the purpose to improve the legal environment of the food and agricultural sector the “Law on Water” was passed in 1995, the “Law on Plant Protection” was approved in 1996 and the “Law on Seeds and Varieties of Plants” was endorsed in 1999. The amendments were made to the “Law on Land”, the “Law on Cooperatives” and the “Law on Insurance of Crop Farming” in 2002. The “Law on Land Ownership” and the “Law on Prohibition and Inspection of Animals, Plants, Animal and Plant Origin Products during Export and Import” were passed lately and are being observed.

With the aim of supporting crop farming the “National green revolution” and “Revival of land farming” projects and “Seed” and “Fallow” sub projects have been implemented successfully.

3. Activities on Conservation, Evaluation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science play an important role making policies, planning and funding activities on plant genetic resources. The Mongolian State University of Agriculture (MSUA) and related research institutes are mainly involved in the research work on PGR.

The Plant Science and Agricultural Research Training Institute (PSARTI) in

Darkhan-Uu has been designated as the national base collection for both crop and forage species and plays leading role in collaboration with other institutes.

Mongolia depends heavily on animal husbandry and is rich in forage plant genetic

resources. Conservation of forage species is as important as food crop species. The Research Institute of Animal Husbandry (RIAH) is the leading Institute in collecting, characterization, evaluation and documentation of forage genetic resources in the country.

The National Board for Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) is an advisory

committee for activities on plant genetic resources. The Board also organizes national workshops and training courses in the area of PGR. Mongolia started PGR conservation activities in cooperation with the former Soviet Union, especially focused on collecting

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local landraces in 1960s. The effective activities of conservation of crop genetic resources started 1990s.

Mongolia has been facing economic difficulties for over the last ten years and has

not been able to provide adequate resources for the PGR activities, especially on conservation and characterization. 4. Conservation activities on plant genetic resources

The National Genebank established at PSARTI in 2000 with technical assistance of

FAO and support from IPGRI and the Republic of Korea. PSARTI has short-term seed storage facilities with holding capacities of 30,000-35,000 accessions and long-term storage facilities for 10,000 accessions. In the long-term storage seeds stored in aluminum foil packets and stored in chest deep freezers under temperature -18oC and in short-term storage seeds dried to 12-13% of moisture content are packed in paper envelopes and aluminum bags and stored at a temperature of 5 – 10oC.

The total number of accessions preserved at PSARTI and related institutes have increased constantly due to intensive international cooperation with international genetic resources centers and genebanks. 83.3% of total national germplasm collection is stored at PSARTI. Table 1. Present status of crop genetic resources conservation in Mongolia.

Institute name No.of accessions

Crop category Location Type of preservation

Plant Science and Agricultural Research Training Institute

19237 Cereals, vegetables, industrial, oil crops, wild relatives, fruit

tree

Darkhan Short-term Long-term

Research Institute of Animal Husbandry

2000 Fodder grasses. Legume crops

Ulaanbaatar Short-term

Altai Regional research branch of MSUA

685 Vegetables, cereals Khovd Short-term

Eastern Regional research branch of MSUA

273 Oil crops, industrial crops

Choilbalsan Short-term

Ulaangom research branch of MSUA

513 Cereals Ulaangom Short-term

PSARTI holds 19,237 seed accessions belonging to over 60 crops stored under the

short and long-term storage condition. In addition, the 740 plants of 182 accessions of 37 genera, 82 species of fruit and ornamental trees, perennial plants for food and medicine as well as wild species of rare and potentially useful plant species stored in the field collection. Among this collection there are over 30 major traditional medicinal plants under the National Plant Genetic Resources Project (Table 3). The passport data of medicinal plant collection in the field genebank exists on manual format indicating the passport data and collecting data at Plant Genetic Resources Division of PSARTI.

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Table 2. Crop germplasm composition stored at PSARTI

Crop

No of accessions

2000

No of accessions

2008 1. Wheat 6519 6582

2. Barley 5216 5262 3. Oat 1336 1402 4. Other grains millet, triticale, rye, maize, buckwheat 1350 1377 5. Legumes 706 753 6. Oil and fiber crops 215 108 7. Vegetables 2989 3077 8. Fodder crops 357 386 Others 77 132

TOTAL 18765 19237

The Experimental Station located at “Khuduu aral” Co. Ltd in Kherlen – BayanUlaan in Khentii province has a field collection of 47 accessions belonging to 47 species and 33 genera of common and rare medicinal plants distributed in Eastern Mongolia (Table 5). This station is situated in 211 km to the southeast from Ulaanbaatar in the steppe zone at an elevation of 1240m above sea level (Ligaa, U. 2004, personal communication).

Some conservation facilities were improved at RIAH in 2000 by the USA-

Mongolian collaborative project. Now RIAH has 2000 accessions of 319 species, 180 genera, 46 families for grasses and legumes genetic resources.

5. Characterization and evaluation activities on Plant Genetic Resources

PGR evaluation has two major purposes:

1. Plant characterization and essential evaluation on quantitative and qualitative traits for agronomic value according to the crop descriptors.

2. Special evaluation by germplasm users, breeders which is very detailed or limited according to the needs specific breeding programmes. Annually 500-700 accessions belonging to 20 species are planted on field plots for

characterization and evaluation according to morphological, biological and productive characters. The VIR and IPGRI descriptors used and descriptor development for major crops under progress

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Table 3. Medicinal plants maintained in the field collection at PSARTI 1. Allium altaicum Pall. 21. Malus baccata (L). 2. Allium odorum L. 22. Paeonia anomala L. 3. Allium oblicum L. 23. Paeonia lactiflora Pall. 4. Amygdalus mongolicus Maxim. 24. Papaver nudicaule L. 5. Amygdalus peduculata Pall. 25. Pulsatilla Bungeana C.A.Mey. 6. Armenica sibirica (L) Lam. 26. Pulsatilla flavescens (Zucc) Juz. 7. Asparagus gobicus Ivanova ex Grub. 27. Padus avium Mill. 8. Betula platyphylla Sucacz. 28. Phlomis tuberosa L. 9. Carum carvi L. 29. Rhodiola quadrifida (Pall) Fisch. et

Mey. 10. Chamaenerion angustifolium

(L.)Scop. 30. Rhodiola rosea L.

11. Crataegus sanguina Pall. 31. Rhododendron dauricum L. 12. Dasiphora fruticosa (L) Rydb. 32. Rosa acicularis Lindl. 13. Hippopae rhamnoides L. 33. Rubus arcticus L. 14. Fragaria orientalis Losinsk. 34. Rubus sacharlinensis Levl. 15. Glicyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. 35. Rheum undulatum L. 16. Grosularia acicularis (Smith) Spach. 36. Ribes altissimum Turch. ex Pojark. 17. Iris bungei Maxim. 37. Ribes nigrum L. 18. Iris flavissima Pallas. 38. Sambucus manchurica Kitag. 19. Lonicera altaica L. 39. Sorbaria sorbifolia (L) A.Br. 20 Lilium pumilum Delile. 40. Ulmus pumila L. 6. Crop germplasm utilization activities

Under the crop improvement program in total 180 varieties of various crops including 90 of cereals, 10 of potatoes, 30 of vegetables and varieties of fodder and industrial crops as well as 40 of different fruit trees and ornamentals were developed at PSARTI. More than 80 varieties out of 180 are widely grown in major crop production areas of the country.

At present the research orientation of plant breeders relies on high yield, drought

and heat tolerance, early maturity and quality. Between 2001-2005 the PSARTI has developed and introduced 9 varieties of 8

crops including wheat, potato, various vegetables to farmers and the RIAH developed 18 forms of 8 species and improved their seed multiplication technology.

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Table 4. Medicinal plants maintained at experimental station “Khuduu aral”

1. Allium altaicum Pall. 24. Lagochillus illicifolius 2. Allium odorum L. 25. Limonium flexuosum 3. Allium senescens L. 26. Limonium aureum 4. Allium pollyrrhizum 27. Lilium dahuricum 5. Allium macrostemon 28. Lilium pumilum Delile. 6. Allium mongolicum 29. Linum baicalensis 7. Allium condesatum 30. Nitraria roborowskii 8. Asparagus dahuricus 31. Paeonia lactiflora Pall. 9. Aconitum kusnezoffii 32. Phlomis tuberosa L. 10. Acorus calamus L. 33. Polygonatum odoratum 11. Angelica dahurica 34. Rheum undulatum L. 12. Arenarinara formosa 35. Ranunculus chinensis 13. Caryopteris mongolica 36. Scorzonera capita 14. Clematis fruticosa 37. Saussurea salicifolia 15. Dichtanmus dasycarpus 38. Synurus deltoides 16. Echinops gmelinii 39. Sedum purpureum 17. Ephedra equisetina 40. Sedum aizoon 18. Ephedra sinica 41. Scutellaria baicalensis 19. Glicyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. 42. Saposhnikovia davaricata 20. Hemerocallis lilio asphodelus L 43. Thermopsis przewalskii 21. Iris bungeana 44. Thermopsis lancelota 22. Iris dichotoma 45 Veratrum nigrum 23. Iris tenuifolia 46. Valeriana alternifolia

Table 5. Germplasm accessions characterized at regional research institutes in 2001-2005

Institutions No.of samples Traits

PSARTI 6233 Morphological characters, productivity evaluation, stress tolerance

RIAH 621 Botanical identification of fodder grasses, morphological and productivity evaluation

ERARB 90 Productivity and quality analysis, agronomic traits

7. Germplasm exchange and documentation

The passport data, characterization and evaluation data of each accession is

available in manual form at PSARTI. In 1996-2000 renovation documentation records including passport data of all accessions has been done at PSARTI Genebank. With the support of IPGRI, PSARTI started crop characterization and evaluation database management in 1998 and at present over 7200 accessions stored in the Genebank are recorded in the GMS computer program. Passport data are available in GMS format and the characterization and evaluation data of accessions of wheat, barley, common millet, oat, root plants are recorded.

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Between 1996-2006, in total 3212 accessions from Korea, Czech Rep. Russia, USA, Japan, China, India, Germany, Canada, Italy, Norway and other countries were introduced to PSARTI.

Also, 3500 accessions were distributed to international partner countries and 4600

accessions to national institutions for breeding programs of cereals, vegetables, potato and other crops.

8. Mongolian Strategy on conservation and use of PGR

During 1996-2000 years progress has been made in strengthening the research

capability. With technical assistance of FAO and IPGRI the National Genebank at PSARTI, Darkhan was established in 2000 and with USA support PGR local conservation facilities at RIAH, Ulaanbaatar. Herbarium specimens collected from wild species are kept in the Institute of Botany. It holds 100,000 herbarium specimens.

However, Mongolia still has low technical capability and facilities for PGR

activities at the national level. The future priority activities on PGR in Mongolia will be: Priority activities on conservation of PGR

- Securing existing ex situ conservation of crop genetic resources and their wild relatives for food and agriculture and promoting in situ conservation

- Regenerating threatened ex situ accessions - Supporting planned and targeted collecting of Plant Genetic Resources for

Food and Agriculture - Expanding ex situ conservation through the field conservation and use of

new technologies Priority activities on evaluation and use of PGR

- Expanding evaluation of economical useful plants, including medicinal, essential oil, fodder, aromatic plants.

- Introducing new varieties of cereals, fodder and less utilized crops for crop improvement programs

- Promoting of crop diversification in Mongolia through introduction of new crop types for food and fodder.

Priority activities on PGR Documentation

- Improving existing germplasm database and developing documentation system of PGR at national level

- Setting up the network on PGR documentation at National and Regional level

Priority activities on International cooperation

- Strengthening cooperation with Asian countries in areas of germplasm collecting and exchange, training, collaborative research.

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9. Strengths of PGR

- Plant protection measures have been taken under the law of “Mongolian land on National Plants”, the “Mongolian law on Forests”, the “Mongolia law on Seeds and varieties”, and “National Biodiversity Action Plan for special protected areas”.

- In 2001 National Research Projects started on crop genetic resources (PSARTI, Darkhan, Altai regional branch, MSUA, Agrobiological school of MSUA), on PGR of Fodder crops and grasses (RIAH), on PGR of medicinal and technical plants (MSUA).

- Students of MSUA BSc degree programme study PGR for two semesters. - Increasing involvement of international, non governmental agencies in activities

related to PGR for food security and sustainable agriculture.

10. Weakness of PGR activities

- Increasing number of species are being registered as endangered and threatened. - Inadequate laboratory facilities for research on PGR at equal level with regional

countries. - Insufficiently trained staff in regional institutions and stations due to economical

situation in this period. - Documentation and cataloguing need to be well organized and developed at each

institute. - Lack of collaborative activities on collection of PGR with regional and

neighbouring countries like China and Russia.

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Summary of PGR for Food and Agriculture System in Myanmar

Aye Aye Myint Senior Research Officer and In-charge of Seed Bank Unit

Department of Agricultural Research, Yezin, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar Introduction

The Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI, now DAR) was established in

1974 at Yezin, Myanmar, and it became the agency tasked to look after Myanmar’s PGR. Collecting and conserving PGR was started before CARI established its Seed Bank. The concerned crop sections under CARI maintained germplasm of rice, maize and other cereals, oil seeds, food legumes, fibre and horticultural crops. However, systematic PGR management began after the establishment of the Seed Bank at CARI in 1987 with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and technical cooperation between Myanmar and Japan for PGR management was launched in June 1997 with three objectives: to establish the PGR management system; to upgrade the knowledge and technologies on PGR management of local scientists; and to exchange PGR and information on PGR.

The overall objective of the Seed Bank of Myanmar is to improve sustainable

agriculture production and productivity through better use of PGR in Myanmar. The PGR management system of Myanmar consists of the following units:

• Exploration, collection and introduction • Multiplication, rejuvenation and characterization • Pre-breeding • Ex situ conservation • Data management and Documentation

Exploration, collection and introduction activities

From 1988 to 2008, as a part of the technical cooperation between Myanmar and

Japan, and in cooperation with IARCs eg. ICRISAT, IRRI and with NIAS (National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences), Japan. 43 missions have been completed and a total of 3942 accessions have been collected. During the collection missions, a total of 13 out of 14 states and divisions were visited. Monitoring the immediate threat of extinction of some crop species is also an important task for the Exploration and Collection section of the Seed Bank. At present, collection of wild Vigna spp. is being carried out in collaboration with Japan and soybean in collaboration with Thailand and Japan. Multiplication, characterization and evaluation activities

The Multiplication Section undertakes germplasm rejuvenation, preliminary seed

increase, and carries out characterization and evaluation for morphological characters All the multiplication, characterization and evaluation activities are carried out in DAR and DAR satellite farms. From 1997 to 2008, a total of 8592 PGR accessions have been characterized.

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Pre-breeding activities For better use of PGR and to assist breeding programmes of all major crops in

CARI, pre-breeding activities were thought to be necessary. Therefore, a pre-breeding unit has been initiated to conduct preliminary evaluation of available germplasm pool for all the economically and agronomically important characters and germplasm enhancement for major crops in collaboration with respective crop divisions. Pre-breeding activities of the Seed Bank include: 1) critical evaluation of rice germplasm for specific traits such as bacterial blight (BB) resistance, brown plant hopper (BPH) resistance, grain quality, drought resistance, photoperiod sensitivity, input responsiveness and efficiency, and novel plant types; 2) development and supply of diverse crop germplasm for long-term breeding goals of DAR’s crop breeding programmes. All the pre-breeding activities are carried out in collaboration with respective crop section of DAR. Ex- situ conservation

The conservation unit is to preserve PGR safely without loss in viability, genetic

integrity while maintaining the original spectrum of variability. The Seed Bank has two types of conservation facilities: Short-term and medium to long-term. Seeds of active collections in polyethylene bottles are stored in short-term facilities maintained at 5-10°C with 30-40% RH. The short-term facility has a storage capacity of 21,600 accessions. Seeds of the base collection are vacuum-packed in aluminum foil bags and stored in medium- to long-term facilities maintained at -5°C with 30-40%RH. Such storage facilities have a capacity of 20,000 accessions. To date, 10373 accessions are preserved in short-term storage while 10,170 accessions are in medium- to long-term storage. Rice comprises 50% of the total crop germplasm accessions. Documentation and data management

Data Management 1. Passport data: A total of 15,325 accessions of 17 different crops and wild

relatives; 2. Characterization data: A total of 8,952 accessions of 21 different crops and wild

relatives; 3. Stock management data: A total of 8,908 accessions of 17 different crops and

wild relatives are documented in a relational database. 4. Crop Catalogues Published

1) 2001 Germplasm accessions (passport data), a total of 7,559 accessions for 17 different crops and wild relative has been published in August 2001

2) Catalogue 2009 (Characterization data of Rice germplasm in Myanmar), a total of 4,500 accessions of rice has been published in February 2009.

Germplasm distribution

Crop germplasm conserved in the Seed Bank of DAR are supplied upon request.

Seed supply for other government agencies within Myanmar is done after accomplishing the official request form. In the case of international requests, seeds are supplied with Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). So far, 3,696 crop germplasm accessions have been distributed within Myanmar and 9,156 accessions have been supplied to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS, Japan), Kyushu University, Japan, and the International Crops Research Institute for the

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Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). More international and regional germplasm exchange may be expected in the future to broaden genetic diversity of crop species in the country and to strengthen friendship with partner countries. PGR conservation priorities

The Seed Bank conserves crop species in line with national economic policies.

Therefore, collection and conservation of rice, oilseed crops, and food legumes are given priority, as with crop species in immediate danger of extinction. Wild and weedy relatives of important crop species are also collected and conserved. Regional Collaboration Regional collaboration on PGR activities commenced long before the systematic PGR management system was established in Myanmar. In 1981, Dr. Duncan A. Vaughan (then of IRRI), organized a short PGR Exploration and Collection Training at CARI (now DAR). It was followed by a series of joint exploration and collection missions on local rice varieties and wild relatives rice nationwide on an extensive scale. A special exploration and collection mission which aimed to collect germplasms in remote hilly regions, i.e Chin and Shan States was launched in 1996-1997 in cooperation with IRRI (Dr. A.G Garcia). It was successful in collecting 215 traditional rice verities. By 1999, out of these joint-exploration and collection missions between IRRI and CARI (now DAR), Myanmar had deposited a total of 3455 local rice and 94 wild rice accessions in Genetic Resources Center (GRC) IRRI for use by scientists around the world. Joint-exploration and collection missions were organized between CARI and ICRISAT in 1992. During 1992 ICRISAT deputed Dr. A. K. Singh, Senior Scientist (Germplasm) and A. K. Sadasivan, Senior Research Associate to provide necessary training to the Seed Bank staff in PGR activities to strengthen their capabilities in germplasm conservation and use. At the end of the training, two collection expeditions were executed to cover most of the groundnut growing regions for collection of local and diverse landraces of groundnut to enrich the national groundnut germplasm at Seed Bank, DAR and the world collection at GRU, ICRISAT. A total of 92 germplasm samples were collected of which 49 were groundnut, 15 sorghum, 9 pearl millets, 9 minor millets, 4 pigeon pea and 6 belonging to other crops of national interest. The duplicates of all there accessions were deposited in the GRU, ICRISAT. From 1998 to 2009, in collaboration with national, regional and international organizations, Myanmar Seed Bank has accomplished 43 exploration and collection missions and a total of 3942 accessions have been collected and conserved. Current Regional Collaborative Activities MOUs have been signed between Myanmar Seed Bank and foreign Institutions to conduct PGR management and related activities

1. National Agrobiodiversity Center, RDA, Korea "Cooperation on Biotechnology

and Plant Genetic Resources." Between 2007-2008, 400 rice germplasms have been mutually exchanged and another 200 Myanmar landraces were deposited for safety duplication in Global Seed Hub, RDAGB, Korea.

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2. Joint PGR Exploration and Collection between Myanmar Seed Bank and Japanese Institutions eg. Kobe University; Tokyo Agricultural University and NIAS (Tsukuba)

- Annual joint exploration and collection missions are underway. 3. FAO: "Capacity Building and Enhanced Regional Collaboration for the

Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources in Asia" - Phase I project members include: Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Philippines,

Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. - Phase II projects new members include: Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia,

Laos PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan.

Conclusions Myanmar recognizes the value of PGR for both the present and the future.

Collecting and conserving PGR are part of the national agriculture policy to attain food security and sustainable agricultural production in Myanmar. Within its capacity, Myanmar is working to evaluate and conserve PGR as a national heritage. Through better use of PGR, Myanmar could significantly contribute to regional and global food security. Moreover, through the exchange of PGR and PGR information among countries in the region Myanmar would be able to strengthen its good will with partner countries. In essence, sound PGR management is fundamental for the future socioeconomic development of Myanmar and that of the countries in the region. Some ideas on improving PGR for Food and Agriculture System

1) Public extension on PGR: Radio and Television program, signboards, Journal, etc.

2) Inventory of endangered species in the region. 3) Joint exploration and collection in country and within the region. 4) Publication and exchanging information on characterization, evaluation and

molecular data, cold storage and data base activities. 5) Exchange information on status of diversity in the project member countries. 6) Network system both in country and in the region. 7) Find the comfortable way for requesting the germplasm accessions in the region.

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Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture system of Nepal

Hari Dahal Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives

Kathmandu, Nepal

Introduction Despite covering less than 0.1 percent of the world land area, Nepal, standing 31st

in the world's ranking in biodiversity, possesses disproportionately high level of biodiversity (MOFSC, 2002) at genetic, species and ecosystem levels. Intensive altitudinal and physiographical variations and resulting diversified ecologies in Nepal have favoured the country to harbour as high as 10,107 species of flora and fauna including 599 food plants and domesticate 200 food species (Malla, 1999). A huge number of wild relatives or species of food plants are expected to remain unknown. The major food crops grown in Nepal are:

- cereals such as paddy, maize, wheat, millets and barley - pulses such as lentil, pea, cowpea, soybean, chickpea, green gram, black gram and

red gram - cash crops such as sugarcane, jute, tobacco, tea, cotton, cardamom and ginger - oilseed crops such as mustard, rapeseed, linseed and groundnut - fruits such as citruses, apple, nuts, mango, banana, guava, peach, plum and

persimmon - vegetables such as potato, cucurbits, tomato, potato, brinjal, chilies, radish, turnip,

carrot, cauliflower, cabbage, knolkhol, broccoli, amaranths, beans and okra. A large number of minor and underutilized crops species are grown nationwide on a smaller scale and at a subsistence level. Crops such as rice, beans, brinjal, buckwheat, soybean, foxtail millet, citrus and mango show high genetic diversity in the country including their wild relatives. Some forests species are also reportedly being used as food (47 species), fodder (38 species), medicine (19 species) and cultural events (27 species). The food plants belonged to 172 families, 296 genera, 599 species and 35 sub-species, among which 60 families, 155 genera, 225 species and 31 sub species are cultivated. About 15 species are cereals crops like rice, maize, wheat, barley, finger millet, buckwheat and pseudocereals like proso millet, foxtail millet, about 18 species belong to grain legume crops, and 23 species are fruit crops. Over 100 species are vegetable crops. Many more are cultivated as spices and condiments, and ornamentals as well (Regmi, 1995). Some of the wild species have been used as genetic sources to add crop resistance to various stresses, improve product quality, alter modes of reproduction and crossability between species, induce short stature plant types and increase yield. In situ management of Plant Genetic Resources

Realizing the global concern for agrobiodiversity conservation and management, a global project on 'Strengthening the Scientific Basis of In Situ Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity' was initiated in 1997 to:-

- generate understanding of farmers decision making processes for in situ conservation of domesticated crops along with habitats of their adaptation,

- strengthening national capabilities to carry out research activities in the area and

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- enhancing value of agrobiodiversity by direct involvement of farmers and other stakeholders.

The project was implemented in three ecological regions Jumla (High hill), Kaski

(Mid hill) and Bara (Terai). Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), baseline surveys and diversity fairs were carried out to assess farmers’ knowledge and on-farm biodiversity management perspectives.

The Ministry of Forestry and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) in coordination with the

Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) initiated taking inventories through surveys of PGRFA in more than 20 districts, for which a format to collect information on biodiversity has been endorsed by the government. Some other components of biodiversity conservation such as community based seed bank and registration also played a supportive role to improve the inventories and survey of the PGRFA.

The nation has addressed in situ management of plant genetic resources for food

and agriculture by identifying good practices for biodiversity conservation and their sustainable use. These practices are being replicated in three mid and far western districts of Nepal through institutional arrangement in the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Good practices identified were:

- Baseline surveys, diversity fair, RRA and PRA to locate ecosystem diversity, crops and community

- Four cell analysis for rapid diversity analysis - Community biodiversity registration - Community bank - Community biodiversity management - Participatory plant breeding for value addition of PGRFA - None breeding approaches such as market promotion and food festivals - Linking biodiversity conservation to development activities

Despite such a diverse biosphere present in the country, efforts to mobilize relevant

stakeholders in its conservation and use of locally available PGRFA are limited mainly due to inadequate funding and awareness to research and development institutions, much dependence on imported varieties and chemical inputs for increased crop productivity, inadequate number of plant breeders, weak support on informal seed supply system, limited extension services regarding good practices in farmers' fields and delay on legislative arrangements.

Integrating on-farm biodiversity conservation activities in rural development

programs and linking it to ecotourism, restructuring extension services with the inclusion of adequate supports on local approaches of seed supply, soil fertility management and other activities of agrobiodiversity conservation such as demonstration/fair, conservation/ genetic enhancement of local varieties, participatory plant breeding, use of mass media and publications on such supports preferrably in local languages, endorsing ABS, Plant Breeders Rights and Farmers Rights legislations and development of human resources and global/regional collaboration on such efforts would be relevant remedies towards aforementioned shortcomings.

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Ex situ management of plant genetic resources Ex situ management of plant genetic resources for safeguarding crop diversity

includes storing orthodox/recalcitrant seeds and vegetatively propagated germplasm in gene banks, in fields as well as in vitro generally with ultra-low temperature. National commodity research programmes have maintained some landraces of relevant crops in the field by growing them year after year. Such is possible only with limited number of collections; handling a large number of collections requires modern facilities at least at national and broad ecological levels in the country.

As the diversified ecosystems along the Himalayan range and its valleys and

foothills harbored high genetic and species variability of crop plants and after N.I. Vavilov’s contribution regarding plant type origin, several biologists, naturalists, adventurists, travelers and plant hunters were prompted to collect germplasm from Nepal have, through crop specific or multi-crop collection missions, organized plant exploration and germplasm collection. The first, IPGRI (initially IBPGR) and IRRI collected germplasms of different cultivated crops including their wild relatives. Later, Japan also supported crops plant exploration. International gene bank in IRRI (the Philippines) has conserved 2545 accessions and NIAS in Japan 2030 accessions of rice germplasm from Nepal. Nepal Agriculture Research Council has also been collecting crop plant genetic resources since 1986 through limited activities in coordination with farming communities and eco-regionally based agriculture research stations. A seed repository (with 20 sq.m. of space, 50C and 45% RH) in the council has preserved 10,781 orthodox seed accessions of 90 crop species collected from different regions of the country through various national and international missions. The repository has been facing deficit irregular allocation of finacial resources and thus none reliable supply of electricity. Recently, the government is supporting construction of a gene bank with long term conservation facilities.

The country’s plant breeding capacity is not very strong and effective, and thus use

of available plant genetic resources is poor in the country due mainly to limited breeders, financial support and facilities such as gene bank especially for horticultural crops and that for safety duplication of conserved germplasm. Minor crops, including fruits, condiments, vegetables and forage, and underutilized species are poorly represented in the present collection. Likewise, inaccessible areas have hardly been represented in the collections. A systematic plan to collect diversity has not yet been developed due mainly to the aforementioned limitations. Eco-geographical assessment of diversity, exploration and collection missions, systematic documentation and training of resource persons are major priorities to enhance plant germplasm collection in the country. Conservation facilities in national commodity research programs and regional agricultural research stations are also important. Use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

About 216 improved varieties of 44 crops representing cereals, legumes, oil seeds,

potato, vegetables, industrial crops and forage have been released. Presently only 14 percent of local landraces in rice, 42 percent in maize and none of them in wheat have been utilized in crop improvement programmes indicating that use of locally available genetic resources in crop improvement is very limited. Lack of germplasm characterization, evaluation and documentation, poor integration of conservation and utilization activities and insufficient plant breeding capacity (manpower, fund and physical

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facilities) have been major constaints. A total of 6812 accessions have been characterized by 2007 (NARC, 2007). Recently, molecular techniques of germplasm characterization have been initiated in selected crop species. Evaluation of crop germplasm for tolerance/resistance to diseases, pests, drought and other biotic/abiotic conditions has not been initiated.

National plans, policies and legislation

Being a signatory in CBD, ITPGRFA and WTO, Nepal is committed to their

implementation in the country through its relevant plans, policies and legislative arrangements. Accordingly, the tenth plan (2002-2007) emphasized biodiversity conservation with provisions for programs on maintaining habitats, reducing the decline of important species, in situ conservation and community participated ecotourism, seed banks and variety development. Some community based seed banks and institutionalization of crop selection system are some achievements.

The three-year interim plan (2007/08-2009/10) has adopted objectives and strategies set by Agro-biodiversity Policy 2007 regarding conservation, promotion and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity and related traditional knowledge through research, development and institutional arrangement for establishing community and public ownership on such resources. The plan and the policy have provisions for agrobiodiversity registration and documentation, and for development of regulatory mechanisms to define farmers and state ownership on and access to the benefits from the resources. Conserving agriculture, pastureland and animal biodiversity in 10 districts and establishing a national gene bank have been major programs.

The Plant Protection Act (1972), Seed Act (1988), Agriculture Perspective Plan

(1995), Nepal Biodiversity Strategy (2002), National Agricultural Policy (2004), Nepal Biodiversity Strategy Implementation Plan (2006-2010), Biosafety Guidelines (2005), National Biosafety Policy (2007) and National Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol (2007) have been some other policy matters concerning agrobiodiversity conservation, promotion and utilization. Legislative drafts on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, plant breeder's rights and farmers' rights are yet to be endorsed. National priorities for international collaboration

The concerted efforts from the government as well as non-government sectors

involved in agricultural research and development have led to the application of various community participated tools in achieving agrobiodiversity conservation, promotion and utilization in the country including such tools as mass media, workshops, seminars, publications, biodiversity fair and interactions for creating awareness. Visibly demonstrated benefits of on-farm conservation to farming communities have attracted policy makers, politicians and farming communities. Despite that financial and human resource constraints in identification, documentation and in situ and ex situ conservation of profusely available plant genetic resources and harnessing them through breeding and non-breeding approaches to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits to farming communities in specific and global communities in general had been major challenge. In this regard, international collaboration would be particularly essential in capacity strengthening such as manpower development and agrobiodiversity assessment, collection identification, documentation, and information system development. Nepal has undertaken

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construction of a national gene bank. The country needs international supports for developing long-term conservation facilities in it along with organizing germplasm collection, identification, evaluation and systematic documentation and establishing an information system. Strengthening short and long term training of technical manpowers, facilitating access to germplasms and shuttle breeding programs, in situ conservation of minor crops and neglected/underutilized species and conservation activities linking gene bank and farming communities/community seed banks are some other areas of such collaboration. References OFSC, 2002. Nepal Biodiversity Strategy. Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, Nepal. Annual Report NARC, 2007. -2062/063 (2005/2006). Agriculture Botany Division and

Biotechnology Unit, NARC, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal. NPC, 2007. The tenth plan (2002-2007), National Planning Commission, Government of

Nepal. NPC, 2007. Three-Year Interim Plan (2007/08-2009/10). National Planning commission,

Nepal. Regmi P.P., 1995. Wild and underutilized food plants in Nepal. In: M.P. Upadhyay, H.K.

Saiju, B.K. Baniya and M.S. Bista (eds.).Plant genetic resources: Nepalese perspective proceedings of National workshop, 28 Nov.-1 Dec., 1994. NARI and IPGRI.

Malla, S.B., 1999. An over view of plant resources in Nepal. In: R. Shrestha and B. Shrestha (eds.). Proceedings of national conference on wild relatives of cultivated plants in Nepal, 2-4 June, 1999, Kathmandu. The Green Energy Mission (Nepal), Anamnagar Kathmandu.

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Plant Genetic Resources Information System in Pakistan

M. Shahid Masood Senior Director (IABGR)

National Agricultural Research Center

The Plant Genetic Resources Program (PGRP) is the main National Program that is functioning for overall management of PGRs including exploration, collection, exchange, safe storage on long, medium and short term basis, evaluation, documentation and distribution to other research institutes for sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources of crops and wild relatives within the country and abroad. Other research and educational institutes both at the Federal and Provincial level are also handling conservation and use of plant genetic resources of selected crop commodities or groups of plant species.

PGRP is a component of the Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic

Resources (IABGR) which is itself one of the nine institutes that are involved in research and development activities of several crop commodities, livestock sector and social sciences. Although the history of development of plant genetic resources conservation and use is long, but in its present form, it was established with the financial assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 1993 and has received additional financial support again in 2003 from JICA for strengthening of the activities related to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. This facility comprises of genebank for active and base collections and six laboratories for Exploration & Collection, Seed Conservation, In-vitro Conservation, Germplasm Evaluation, Plant Introduction & Seed Health and Data Management. All laboratories are well equipped with very sophisticated equipments.

The Plant Genetic Resources Program (PGRP) of PARC/NARC has undertaken

fifty eight plant collecting expeditions in different agro-ecological regions of the country in collaboration with national coordinated commodity programmes and International Agricultural Research Centres (IARC). The genebank maintains more than twenty five thousand accessions of which about 80% are of local origin.With the recognition of importance for underutilized/minor and medicinal crops, these have also been included recently in collection and preservation agenda. The major crops, i.e., wheat, rice, chickpea, maize, sorghum, oilseeds and millets have been intensively collected from areas with high genetic diversity. Along with local cultivars, the wild relatives of wheat (Aegilops squarrosa and A. triuncialis), chickpea (Cicer macranthum and Cicer microphyllum), barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and various wild relatives of pomes, stone fruits and tree nuts have been collected. There have been significant achievements in the collection and conservation of PGR. However, the emerging threats to biodiversity and changing global scenario towards restricted access to germplasm, requires emphasis on trait specific explorations.

Characterization and evaluation is vital for plant genetic resources activities related to collection and conservation before its utilization. During characterization and evaluation, three steps are performed: (1) Characterization and preliminary evaluation (2) Detailed evaluation based on agronomic characters viz; resistance to biotic and a-biotic stresses; (3) biochemical evaluation which examines the specific characters required for breeding. Field evaluation and multiplication are often performed at the same time. The germplasm preserved in the gene bank is periodically regenerated.

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Lines moderately tolerant to salt and leaf folder (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis) in rice,

early maturity and short stature in barley, good quality with 5+10 and 2+12 allelic combination in wheat, powdery mildew resistance in pea, and tolerant to mungbean yellow mosaic virus in mung and mash have been identified for utilization in breeding programs. Detailed evaluation for biotic and abiotic stress resistance is being carried out and will remain the major future thrust. SDS-PAGE, Isozyme, and DNA analyses have been used to evaluate genetic diversity in different crop species.

Molecular characterization studies carried out in Pakistan on some important crops

have provided insight into the extent and distribution of genetic diversity. The extent of genetic diversity in rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat cultivars has been studied using microsatellite markers. The SDS-PAGE has been conducted for studying genetic diversity in wheat, rice, sorghum, mungbean, blackgram, cowpea, peas, Nigella sativa and Ricinus communis that revealed low to medium levels of genetic diversity for seed proteins. Specific protein subunits for identification of various species have been identified to resolve taxonomic issues. Varying degrees of association of markers with agronomic characters were observed in blackgram.

The germplasm can only be efficiently used if it is properly screened against

various pathogens. This activity is mainly carried out in collaboration with crops commodity programmes. Germplasm of many crops was screened in the field and green houses to identify resistant/tolerant sources for specific diseases. The resistant/tolerant sources in cowpea against blackeye cowpea mosaic virus and cowpea aphid borne mosaic virus, in pea against powdery mildew, in wheat against rust, in chickpea and lentil against blight, in mungbean and mash against mungbean yellow mosaic virus and in common bean against bean common mosaic virus have been identified.

For an effective utilization of data and information that is continuously growing in volume as a result of research on evaluation and characterization of collected germplasm both at PGRI, elsewhere in the country and overseas, the information/ data base system has been developed. Now, with the assistance of FAO, NISM is in place to further fortify the magnitude of conservation of PGRs and their sustainable utilization by establishing interaction with users, breeders and other scientists for germplasm improvement and management across the country and regions. The computer software programs used in the mechanism allow the user flexible and multifaceted retrieval of information that will go a long way in sustainable utilization of PGRs and related downstream issues such as access and benefit sharing. Furthermore, priority needs to be laid on strengthening feed back information among the users of PGRs and dissemination of such information for effective utilization of genetic resources at national and international levels in sustainable food production, thus helping in enhancement of global food security.

The public awareness about plant genetic resources regarding its roles and values

is more common in rural communities and among the elite class of urban communities but a concerted approach has to be adopted to create a wide spread general awareness among the masses. On special occasions such as world food day and also silver jubilee celebrations of PARC, popular articles and pamphlets are written to highlight the value of genetic resources. T.V productions are also telecast occasionally for mass awareness and students from schools, colleges and universities commonly visit PGRP to get acquaintance about the PGRs. Civil servants, officers from forces and other governmental departments

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and civil society are also briefed about the plant genetic resources but there is a need to arrange more regular visits for the general public and CDs and videocassettes may be helpful in generating greater interest in PGRs and their conservation among the masses.

Pakistan is a party to the Convention of Biological Diversity (1992), ITPGRFA

(1995), and International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources, Leipzig (1996). Therefore, the country grants access to PGR on mutually agreed terms subjected to prior informed consent of the contracting parties providing such resources. Further, it requires the contracting parties to share in a fair and equitable way the results of research and development and the benefit arising from the utilization of such resource.

Access to PGR is an important step for utilization. A large number of accessions of

cereals, food legume, fruits and oilseeds have been supplied to various research institutes in the country and abroad for use in their breeding programs. Similarly many samples of different crop species were acquired from abroad for use. In Pakistan, the use of PGR has contributed significantly to achieve food security and sustainable development. The utilization of sources for leaf rust resistance in wheat, blight resistance in chickpea and root rot resistance in chilies has resulted in the development of resistant varieties.

An important component of CBD is that of the equitable benefit sharing of

biological resources. This aspect of CBD has not yet been fully addressed in Pakistan. The country has to go a long way to establish the mechanism for sharing the benefits arising out of the use of PGR. In Pakistan, the draft Biodiversity Law 2005 for Access to Biological Resources and Community Rights has been prepared by the Biodiversity Working Group in the Ministry of Environment.

For the preparation of the National Information Sharing Mechanism on PGRFA

and of the Country Report, FAO provided financial resources to PARC in 2006. Three workshops of stakeholders belonging to federal, provincial and academic institutions and NGOs were held in October, December, 2006 and March, 2007 in order to compile information on 20 priority areas identified in Global Plan of Action. In these three workshops, 167 stakeholders participated and provided information on common tables on computer software prepared by FAO. Data base has been established which will help stakeholders about the current status of PGRFA in the country. The involvement of stakeholders was a good experience to establish NISM. They required more knowledge about some priority areas whereas few of them were totally new for the stakeholders. A wide range of people (scientists, breeders, rural communities and farmers, planners) required for better use of plant genetic resources.

Based upon the information gathered during this process, the 2nd Country Report

on PGRFA has been prepared particularly focusing on the activities under taken after 1995 (First report). This report comprises of eight chapters on (i) State of diversity, (ii) In situ management, (iii) Ex situ management, (iv) State of use, (v) National programs, trainings and legislation, (vi) Regional and international collaboration, (vii) Access to genetic resources, sharing of benefits arising out of their use and farmer’s rights, and (viii) Contribution of plant genetic resources management to food security and sustainable development.

There has been a catastrophic loss in agricultural biodiversity during the last three

decades due to introduction of improved varieties in major crops like wheat, rice, cotton,

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chickpea and maize. Due to little varietal improvement work in minor or under utilized crops, there still exists a lot of diversity in mung bean (Vigna radiata), mash (Vigna mungo), brassicas complex, sorghum, millet and horticultural crops. The awareness created by various public and private organizations about the importance of plant genetic resources has attracted the attention of researchers, planners and NGOs for in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable utilization of these resources.

For ex situ conservation, the national program on collection, conservation and

evaluation are underway but more needs to be done to fill in the gaps in collection from various areas of the country particularly for the wild relatives of crop plants. An important step in ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources is the establishment of National Program on Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad which has been able to conserve more than 25,000 accessions of various crops including major, minor and medicinal plants. This national program is supported by six Crop Advisory Committees which help to identify the priority areas of collection and germplasm needs for specific purposes. Another step recently taken is the establishment of botanical gardens at Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. But unfortunately little has been done so far on on-farm management of plant genetic resources.

Regarding the utilization of these resources, a number of new varieties of wheat,

rice, cotton, maize, sorghum, millet and horticultural crops have been developed which have contributed significantly in food security and sustainable development. Besides high yields, the introduction of these varieties has considerably supported the sustainable management of diseases like the rust in wheat, Aschochyta blight in chickpea, cotton leaf curl virus in cotton and mungbean yellow mosaic virus in mung and mash, as well as better quality in basmati rice. Approximately 2000 to 3000 accessions are distributed annually from the collections of the national Plant Genetic Resources Program to scientific community. The information collected from stakeholders during the implementation of the National Information Sharing Mechanism has revealed that the breeders need the germplasm mainly to address a range of biotic and abiotic stresses. In particular, tolerance to drought and salinity are the most demanded characters.

Various universities have included courses on Biodiversity Conservation in their

syllabi for graduate and post graduate students. Regarding legislation on access to genetic resources, benefit sharing, farmers’ rights, much has to be done yet as few national workshops have been held during the last 4-5 years. A draft on access and benefit sharing has been developed and is being considered at the appropriate forum. The National Information Sharing Mechanism on PGRFA has been developed and available on the PARC website (www.parc.gov.pk). For international collaborations, Pakistan has signed a memorandum of understanding on germplasm exchange with many countries.

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National Information Sharing Mechanism (NISM) on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) - A Plant Genetic

Resources Information System Established in the Philippines to Support PGRFA Activities

Clarito M. Barron Assistant Director

Bureau of Plant Industry, the Philippines

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Philippines undertook the FAO/Government Cooperative project Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific Region (GCP/RAS/186/JPN) to draw/assess the current status of PGRFA in order to fill information gaps, to identify their needs and priorities for the conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA, to improve national capacity in monitoring PGRFA activities, and to share with the region successful experiences in the implementation of GPA priority activity areas related to in situ conservation and on farm management.

A total of 35 participants from 32 member-institutions of the Philippine National

Network on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PNNPGRFA) participated in three national consultation workshops and meetings on the Establishment of the National Information Sharing Mechanism for the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (NISM-GPA).

The first consultation workshop in 2003 aimed to develop a strategy for the

establishment of the NISM, define the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in the establishment of the NISM, review and revise, if necessary, the information in the “common tables” of the reporting format and recommend adoption of the information gathered/generated, develop a plan of action for implementation and in the process, assessed the status of the PGRFA Network and determine its needs and priorities; and train SHs on the use of NISM-GPA computer application software.

The second meeting in 2004 aimed to start the establishment of the national GPA-

NISM, further define roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and the national focal person, discuss and distribute the reporting format and to agree on the kind of information to gather and share, train SHs on the use of the NISM-GPA computer application and distribute the SH’s version of the NISM-GPA computer application for the SHs to answer the questions and update the information to the Common Tables, and develop and agree on a work plan for gathering the needed information and the submission of data for compilation and submission to FAO.

The third meeting in 2006 aimed to review and finalize the draft reports for

submission to FAO (the Draft Report of the Establishment of the NISM on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in the Philippines, and the Draft Report of the Current State and Future Priority for the Conservation and Utilization of PGRFA in the Philippines), discuss achievements, constraints and suggestion to improve the NISM,

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and discuss the next steps and future plans in the implementation of the NISM by agreeing on a strategy for regular updating and maintenance in continuity of the NISM in the Philippines, including the use of the NISM webpage for sharing information and for publishing the work, and identifying needs for the successful establishment of the NISM.

A Steering Committee was created by the NFP for the smooth implementation of

the project, consisting of the core team members of the PNNPGRFA, BPI staff and a representative from a non-government organization.

The project produced and submitted to FAO two reports entitled “The Establishment of the NISM on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in the Philippines” and “The Current State and Future Priority for the Conservation and Utilization of PGRFA in the Philippines.” NISM-GPA – A Helpful Tool

NISM-GPA has been a helpful tool to the Philippines’ overall national PGRFA efforts:

• The current status of PGRFA in the country was well-assessed, monitored and paved the way to improving the quality of information about the country’s PGRFA

• Existing PGR collection, characterization, evaluation, conservation and utilization data from 22 SHs are now in electronic form in the NISM. These data can be used to make an assessment of the current status of PGRFA in order to fill information gaps and to identify needs and priorities for the conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA.

• A network of PGR curators and SHs who share the same responsibilities and commitment was established. In addition, cordial professional relationships were also established among SHs which may prove useful in the sustained operation of the NISM. Close collaboration among SHs was achieved.

• Based on the information available in the NISM-GPA, a report on the current status of PGR activities in the country was prepared and the needs and priorities for the future identified.

• Identify stakeholders’ needs and priorities in the implementation of PGRFA activities

• Easy access to and sharing of current PGRFA information was achieved. Information available in the NISM-GPA was shared among SHs and is accessible to others.

• Aids in decision and policy making on the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA especially in priority setting and resource allocation.

• Enhance the capacity of the country to meet international reporting obligations e.g. State of the World Report for PGRFA

Experiences the Philippines encountered in relation to getting stakeholders’ participation

There are experiences during the establishment of NISM-GPA that is worth looking at especially in relation to stakeholders’ participation.

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• Good o Stakeholders from government, government-owned/controlled corporations,

private organizations and state colleges and universities only through a letter of request from the National Coordinator to their heads of agencies participated in the establishment of NISM-GPA

o A Steering Committee was created by the NFP for the smooth implementation of the project, consisting of the core team members of the PNNPGRFA, BPI staff and a representative from a non-government organization (NGO)

o Almost all stakeholders attend meetings when called for and actively participated in discussions

o Incentives in the form of computer supplies used in the project were provided o National Coordinator assisted in build-up of some of SHs PGRFA database o Continuous monitoring of the project was done to remind stakeholders of their

responsibilities/commitment to the project

• Not so Good o the focal persons did not have all the information needed since other data are held

by other departments o the designated focal persons must be recognized by their institutions, probably

through a special order, as the authorized person to collate and provide the information on their GPA implementation

o there was no clear authority given to the National Coordinator of BPI to gather and collect information from SHs

o Most SHs did not adhere to the time schedule for submitting the information, they did not ask any help nor indicate any difficulty to the NFP who could arrange technical support to assist them

o Most SH representatives attending the meeting have limited experience in using computers

o Some focal persons of agencies even when very much interested in his/her involvement in the project cannot give their full cooperation since their supervisors did not give much priority/importance to the project because of “lack of funding support in the part of the project”

o Focal persons were burdened with more than a few workloads and time is a constraint for them

Further improvement of NISM-GPA data and steps that can be undertaken in the implementation of this project

• Data in the Philippines’ NISM-GPA is not yet complete since many SHs did not provide data. As a result, the picture on the state of PGRFA in the country is still incomplete.

o One reason for not submitting data is that all of the designated SH representatives have their normal workload and therefore their involvement in the development of the NISM is only on a part time basis.

Memorandum of Agreements between the Secretary of the Department of

Agriculture and concerned Heads of Agencies, SCUS and NGOs to officially formalized the involvement of the designated representatives in the development of the NISM should be signed

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The National Focal Institution for the NISM, together with the designated representatives of the SHs, should provide feedback on the accomplishments and future plans of the NISM to the leadership of the SH institutions to obtain their continued support for the activity.

o Another is the lack of manpower and skill to encode the data. The support

provided to the SHs was limited to technical support since there is no fund available for other forms of support.

There should be thorough familiarization of the SH representatives on the use and

operation of the NISM-GPA software. A longer training period for the SHs and the data administrator is recommended.

Several sessions with the use of guide and actual data are needed to really navigate

around the program with ease. This will also facilitate the exact input of the necessary information in every common table. A thorough understanding of how the common tables must be filled is important to actually see the fitness of linking the common tables and the tables within each priority area.

There should be commitment from the participating institutions, specifically the

focal institution, to allocate funding and human resources for this activity. This will insure that the activity is sustained beyond the project life.

o Also, existing computers are outdated and cannot be upgraded because of financial

constraints. The software for the implementation of NISM requires hardware that some SHs did not have.

Each PGR office should be equipped with a computer that could run the software

and handle a large volume of data. o Most of the data on PGR from the SHs are not in electronic form, and had to be

encoded before entry into the needed tables. Familiarization and use of the NISM-GPA software of the SH representatives

should be emphasized.

• The participation of all NGO’s and SCUs in the country who are involved in the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA is very vital in the completion of PGRFA data.

Involvement of NGOs and other SCUs not yet registered in the project as well as those who did not submit data during the first phase of the project should be reiterated and their representatives be trained in the use of the software.

• The Steering Committee that was established to guide, advise and oversee the activities for the establishment of NISM-GPA should play a sustained role in assisting the work.

• Institutionalize the NISM and provide appropriate administrative and financial support.

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Fitting NISM-GPA into the overall PGRFA System of the Philippines NISM-GPA promotes public awareness of the value of PGRFA in the country.

PGR data is now in electronic form where the public can access and there is now a close collaboration and information sharing among stakeholders.

Areas of PGRFA information (documentation) that Needs Strengthening in the Philippines

In genebanks in the country, the most common media used for documentation are

record books, data sheets and computers in that order. Eighty – eight percent (88%) of the institutions use record books and 69% have computers that can be used for documentation.

There is a need to institutionalize the adoption of electronic documentation systems.

This will require designation of documentation units, investment on/designation of basic equipment specifically personal computers for use in PGR documentation, and specialized training of staff in documentation systems for PGR information.

There is a need to assess the desirability and cost of connectivity of documentation

systems among institutions, perhaps through the Internet, for sharing and exchange of PGR information.

The following are constraints enumerated by stakeholders which were taken from the NISM-GPA project:

• Activities on survey and inventory of PGRFA were not given priority due to lack of funds and inadequate human resources. Survey and inventory in areas with unique of PGRFA must be conducted, taking into account the provisions of relevant laws and policies.

• There is no standardized PGRFA data management and information system in the country. Constraints include lack of staff, training, developed software for databasing and equipment.

• There is limited development of monitoring and early warning systems for loss of PGRFA. Funding is the primary constraint.

• There is no formal programme in the country to promote public awareness of the value of PGRFA.

• The identified constraints to the improvement of the national information sharing mechanism include equipment, personnel and logistics.

• Publications on ex situ activities are mostly in the form of hard copies containing passport data, evaluation/characterization data, regeneration data and sometimes requests and distribution data.

• There is a need for a sustained operation of the national programme on PGRFA. The revival of the national committee for PGRFA may enhance the national effort to conserve PGRFA. Training on PGR and a regular newsletter or journal is needed and recommended to establish and strengthen institutions and enhance national capacity to conserve and promote sustainable use of PGRFA.

• Lack of financial resources often posed a major constraint to the effective participation of the country in regional and/or international PGRFA networks. Also, national policies limited the ability of the country to share germplasm and there were no policies yet established on benefit sharing among potential partners.

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• The following are the SHs’ comments on developing comprehensive information systems for efficient management of crop diversity and its use: o No staff dedicated to manage the information system. o Lack of trained personnel o No computers dedicated for data base o Lack of financial support o Data base establishment on PGR not given priority o Information system should be available where farmers can access and use

Adequacy of International Information Exchange Related to PGRFA

In some crops like banana, sweet and white potato, information exchange of the

Philippines with some international organizations is adequate. For example: The Southeast Asia Banana Germplasm Resources Center (SABGRC) based in the

BPI-DNCRDC and national germplasm centers maintaining banana germplasm in the region retrieves and collects all banana cultivars within the Southeast Asian region.

The Banana Asia Pacific Network (BAPNET), of which the Philippines is a

member, enhances Regional collaboration activities in the following areas: germplasm management, information development and exchange, banana resource development, and strategic planning.

The Asian Network for Sweetpotato Genetic Resources (ANSWER) employs various strategies (e.g. ex situ, in vitro, cryopreservation, and others) for the conservation of sweetpotato genetic resources. ANSWER has also initiated capacity building among member-countries with regard to maintenance, characterization, evaluation and documentation of their respective sweetpotato genetic resources.

UPWARD of the International Potato Center (CIP) collaborates with the national

program to conduct field research projects, co-organize trainings and workshops, and support publishing and information sharing activities.

However, for some important crops, information exchange, networking and linkages related to PGRFA needs to be strengthened. Opportunity for between country collaboration on information related to PGRFA – within or outside the scope of this project

Opportunity for between country collaboration on information related to PGRFA is within the scope of this project. In addition to this, is the exchange of expertise and capability building of stakeholders doing PGR activities.

Promotion of networks for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

through exchange of information between countries is imperative to achieve sustainable conservation and utilization of genetic resources. Strong collaboration on information sharing should be associated with capacity building of technical personnel to be involved in the activities. They should also be equipped with the necessary skills as well as tools such as computer hardware and other communication facilities needed in the performance of their given task.

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Conservation and Uses of Plant Genetic Resources in Sri Lanka

Dr. (Mrs.) P.W.S.M. Samarasinghe

Deputy Director, Plant Genetic Resources Centre Department of Agriculture, Sri Lanka

Introduction

Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean located between 79o 39’ and 81o 53’ East longitudes and 5o 55’ and 9o 51’ North latitude consisting of 64,454 km2 of land area. Sri Lanka has a tropical climate and main determinates are rainfall and temperature. The mean temperature of 27.5oC over low lands while temperature in the mountain region varies from 13oC-16oC. Sri Lanka receives monsoonal and conventional types of rain. There are two monsoonal periods, Southwest (May-September) and the Northeast (December-February) are responsible for annual precipitation and the annual precipitation shows bimodal patterns. The country is divided into three main rainfall zones namely Dry Zone with an annual rainfall less than 1500mm, Intermediate Zone with a rainfall 1500-2500mm and Wet Zone which receives as annual rainfall more than 2500mm. Agro-biodiversity

Sri Lanka is an agricultural country with plantation and domestic agriculture sub sectors. In recent years, it has accounted for about 17.2 percent of the country’s gross national product. Nearly all the country’s requirement of rice, root & tuber crops, coconut, vegetables, fruits and species are produced locally. Tea, rubber and some spices are produced for the export market.

Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the countries in Asia with a very high degree of biodiversity. The wide variation in temperature, rainfall, topography and soils in the country has provided a wide diversity of ecosystems resulting in a rich diversity of plant species, which the Sri Lankan farmers have been able to maintain over thousands of years. However, with increasing population pressure and economic development, there has been progressive erosion of the biodiversity in the country. Forest cover which stood at 44% of the land areas in 1956, had declined to 27% by 1981 and the present forest cover is estimated at approximately 23% of the land area. During the past thirty years the productivity of rice increased five fold replacing traditional rice cultivars with few improved high yielding varieties. In the 1940’s over 600 indigenous rice cultivars were cultivated in the country. At present about 10-15 high yielding rice varieties occupy 97% of the cultivated area. The same is true for the other crop species as well. Hence conservation of plant genetic resources is essential. The current gene pool contained in traditional varieties, land races, advanced breeding lines, improved varieties, well adapted introductions and wild and weedy relatives. To date 290 crop wild relatives have been identified in Sri Lanka, including cereals, legumes, vegetables, oil seed crops, fruit crops, fiber crops, root and tuber, spices and condiments. These resources serve as the most important raw materials for plant breeders and the most essential input of the farmers.

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Use of PGR

Total production can be increased by increasing productivity and land devoted to agriculture. But in Sri Lanka land availability for cultivation is limited so the only way to increase production is by increasing productivity. Genetic improvement plays an important role in increasing agricultural productivity. Effective utilization of plant genetic resource is extremely important in developing high yielding varieties with good quality. A large number of new crop varieties have been developed by the Department of Agriculture, and other research institutes using PGR. Among these are varieties of rice, vegetables, pulses and seed crops, fruit crops and plantation crops etc. Twenty three rice varieties developed in Sri Lanka have been recommended for cultivation in other rice growing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Furthermore a large number of Sri Lankan rice cultivars have been used as parents in developing rice varieties in other countries. Many of the indigenous crops are considered as health food due to their nutritional and medicinal qualities.

Limited PGR evaluation conducted to date revealed sources of resistance to pests and diseases in rice and vegetable germplasm. Drought tolerance trait is also significant. Sources of resistance to pests have been identified among the legumes. There are a large number of fruit plants, which remain underutilized. Few hybrids of rice, tomato and egg plant have been produced and hybrid seeds are produced in government seed farms and these varieties are in high demand. Further four hybrid guava varieties were recommended and released for commercial cultivation. PGR Conservation In Sri Lanka the national PGR conservation activities are implemented through government agencies functioning under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Department. The Department of Agriculture is responsible for the national programme on crops genetic resources. The Plant Genetic Resources Centre (PGRC) specifically established for this purpose in 1988. Plant quarantine related functions also come under the purview of the Dept. of Agriculture. Management of botanical gardens comes under Dept. of Botanical Gardens. The Forest Department is responsible for the conservation, management and utilization of natural forest in the country, while the Department of Wildlife is in-charge of the management of the National Parks and other protected areas. The Department of Export Agriculture maintains living collection of spices and Department of Livestock and Animal Husbandry maintains forage and pasture species. Tea Research Institute (TRI), Rubber Research Institute (RRI), Coconut Research Institute (CRI) and Sugarcane Research Institute (SRI) maintain germplasm of their respective crops. Conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants has been started by the Bandaranayake Memorial Ayurvedic Research Institute (BAMRI). Furthermore the National Science Foundation (NSF) of Ministry of Science and Technology functions in advisory capacity and as a funding agency for biodiversity research. In addition to the above state agencies there are about 800 community based NGOs which are involved in conservation programmes of traditional cultivars.

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In the national genetic resources conservation programmes has two basic methods i.e. in situ and ex situ are being used as conservation strategy. The conventional in situ conservation programme is used in Sri Lanka for the conservation of forest tree species and wild life eco-systems. Conservation of PGRFA is mostly limited to ex situ collections holding by the gene bank, in-vitro gene bank, field gene banks and botanical gardens. PGR Awareness programmes

Every year large number of awareness programmes are conducted for school children, farmer organizations and NGOs etc.

Special collaborative programmes on PGR

a) SL-USDA Co-operative germplasm development programme This programme commenced in 2002 and it consists of 14 projects dealing with

research and development. Exploration, collection, conservation, characterization of crop germplasm with special emphasis on underutilized fruit species and establishment of fruit clone gardens will receive attention in this programme.

b) In situ conservation of crop wild relatives through enhanced information management and field applications

This is a global project developed to meet the urgent need to improve conservation of crop wild relatives (CWR). Five countries (America, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan) are working together with a number of international agencies.

c) FAO/GCP/RAS/186/JPN Government Cooperative Programme Major activity – 3-4 stake holder meeting to set up the system to gather and

compilation of data, training for use of software, construction of database and to prepare final report. Plant Genetic Resources Centre was identified as the National Focal Point (NFP).

An 18 member Steering Committee was formed covering members from institutions carrying out 20 priority activities of GPA. Total of 4 Steering Committee Meetings were held. Three major workshop and Training Workshop were held. Following research and development needs were identified.

1. Establishment of a Cryopreservation Unit. 2. Infrastructure facilities at all ex situ centers need upgrading. 3. Conversion of CFC cooling system to CFC free systems. 4. Surveying and inventorizing of PGRFA in protected areas. * North & Eastern Province * Protected areas. 5. Establishment of on-farm conservation location for indigenous varieties of Sri

Lanka. 6. Need to conduct awareness programmes for local communities on importance of

PGRFA. 7. Research on in situ conservation need to strengthening. 8. In situ conservation activities. 9. Introduction of molecular characterizations. 10. Necessary to initiate rapid multiplication programmes for commercializing the

under-utilized fruit crops. 11. Staff training. 12. Establishment of effective linkages nationally and internationally. 13. Development of information sharing system at national, regional and international

level is recommended.

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Report from Thailand to the First National Focal Points Meeting of Project: “Capacity building and regional collaboration for enhancing the

conservation and sustainable use of Plant Genetic Resources in Asia”

Wichar Thitiprasert, Thailand Chutima Ratanasatien, Thailand

Abstract

The country’s most important crops are rice, maize, soybean, cassava, sugarcane, oil palm, coconut, durian, mangosteen, pineapple, and rubber. The trends in crop production, since 1970, increases in crop production have come from both the expansion of cultivated areas and improvements in yields. In response to high agricultural prices, the total area planted has continued to increase. Furthermore, farmers are switching from crops with relatively low returns per hectare to those with higher earnings. Performance, however, varies considerably; sugarcane, rubber and cassava yields have been increasing significantly, rice and maize yields growing slowly, and kenaf yield declining. The trend towards crop diversification continues in response to price incentives as the proportion of cropped area devoted to rice declines.

Thailand PGR activities are supported at the national level by various institutions;

the size and scope of many collections and volume of national international distributions of samples from them are vague. The national system’s collections contain more than 120,000 different accessions of some 700 species, including virtually all of the crops of interest to Thailand agriculture.

The PGR activities consists of four mains activities; first in situ management,

18,097 sq km of forest areas have been conserved, 422.43 sq.km have been reforested and restored. Moreover, Thailand has initiated a number of programmes in response to in situ activity:

• exploration and collection of rice genetic resources, in situ conservation of wild rice (Oryza rufipogon);

• conservation and utilization of mulberry paper genetic resources; • conservation and utilization of mungbean genetic resources; • conservation and utilization of wild sugarcane genetic resources; • community rice center & indigenous vegetable collection project; • surveying, collection, characterization and use of litchi germplasm; • surveying, collection and conservation of native fruit plants; • surveying germplasm and study on morphology of banana; • surveying, collection and study on germplasm diversity of mango and tropical

fruits in Thailand; • surveying, collection and characterization of local scent wood, and medicinal

plants.

Methods to survey and assess intra- and inter-species diversity in agro-ecological systems and wild species populations of rice have been developed. However, strategies and methods for locating and measuring genetic diversity, and for estimating and monitoring genetic erosion have not been the priority of the country. Moreover the Geographic Information System (GIS) has been applied to predict the location of major crop populations from agro-climatic data and have used molecular markers to gauge some

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of the genetic diversity of these populations. The information can be used in selecting areas for in situ conservation and in planning future collecting missions. Spectra of species in the category herbal plants and crop wild relatives have been studied and promoted.

Second, ex situ conservation which is not being guaranteed in a framework of the

national programme and there are still some obstacles. Even though Thailand has a long-standing commitment to ex situ conservation and realizes the great importance of implementing this activity, there are still a small number of institutes to assist countries for holding national collections either under “black box” arrangements or maintaining duplicates of national material in their genebanks. Most of the institutes routinely restore genetic resources, upon request, to national programmes. Most of the publications related to ex situ collections are in the form of hard copy. Seed propagated species are held in genebank storage, vegetatively propagated crops are mainly in field collections.

At present, Thailand has established a project on conservation of genetic resources of various crops. The project involves surveying and collecting plant genetic resources for a number of crops; horticulture crops: durian, longan, longong, langsard, mangosteen, tangerine, pomelo and rambutan have been collected comprising of 3,675 clones and 7,078 trees; three ornamental plants, ginger, curcuma, orchid comprising of 309 clones and 14,109 plants; in subtropical fruit trees, temperate fruit trees, exotic fruit trees, native fruit trees, tropical fruit trees, good variety fruit trees comprising of 33,194 plants; 9 industrial horticultural crops; cocoa, cashew nut, coconut, tea, pineapple, Robusta coffee, Arabica coffee, macadamia, Chinese chestnut comprising of 698 clones and 36,382; 8 types of other ornamental flowers; gerbera, water lily, scented wood, jasmine, anthurium, chrysanthemum, banksias, hippeastrum comprising of 800 clones and 10,759 plants. For vegetables, there are native vegetables, asparagus, Dendrocalamus asper, bamboo shoots, egg plant, Capsicum annuum var. annuum (large chili), Capsicum frutescens var. frutescens (small chili), Chinese chives, morning glory, taro, sweet potato, rattan, Parkia speciosa (parkia), Archidendron jiringa (niang) comprising of 1,430 clones and 25,894 plants. For herbal plants and rare plants, more than 700 types of herbal and rare plants have been collected for conservation. For wild orchids, 273 species have been identified from 23 genera. For field crops, 24 species and 11,472 accessions have been collected; cassava, sugarcane, wild sugarcane, jute, Roselle, Cuban kenaf, ramie, and others. For rice, a total of 24,369 accessions of rice genetic resources are being conserved in the genebank. For para rubber, a total of 4,709 para rubber cuttings were collected and grown in the field collection comprising of 1,697 introduced wild varieties, 111 cultivated varieties and 2,901 Thai hybrid varieties. Regarding the in vitro germplasm collection, there are 224 and 28 plants of wild rice Oryza granulata and O. ridleyi, respectively; 609 samples of cassava and a number of orchid species mostly Vanda, Dendrobium, Paphiopedilum, Rhynchostylis and Ascocentrum spp.

Third, a number of projects and plans have been initiated for utilization and enhancing the use of PGR, for example, promotion of the under-utilized crops, promotion of breeding programmes, promotion of seed supply system and the role of markets breeding programmes and crop improvement programmes and food security.

The status of the PGR in Thailand has the following strengths, Thailand is rich in biodiversity, has a good linkage with stakeholders, has adequate legal coverage and availability of herbarium; for weaknesses, it lacks of financial resources, networks are poorly managed and ineffective, appropriate national partners/stakeholders are not identified, national policy in information system and responsible body are not clear,

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human resources within the country are limited especially in the field of sustainable PGR production, the conservation and use of PGR has received low priority by researchers, breeding programmes have not been practiced in all major crop species, and lack of training; for opportunities, there are 4 major activities as opportunities; national support by putting this element into the national priority, collaboration and contribution with international bodies, encouragement of cooperation among PGR researchers worldwide, and awareness building; for threats, the followings are considered, erosion of biodiversity, endangerment of wild species, establishment easy but maintenance difficulties, and unauthorized removal by academics.

The lessons learned for establishing of the NISM. The NISM-GPA has been helpful to Thailand overall national PGRFA efforts especially, the identification of some of the key elements for devising potential strategies to strengthen the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA. These elements comprise socio-economic, crop biology, seed supply system, participatory variety selection, and community participation and participatory plant breeding. The project also contributes to strong partnerships among stakeholders in PGRFA management within the country. Moreover, it increases the ability of the country to monitor changes in PGRFA over time. Moreover, the mechanism fits into the overall PGRFA system for instance; the information would be a baseline data to develop a strong core of professional breeders, botanists, taxonomists, horticulturists and plant diversity specialists competent to inventory, monitor, evaluate and conserve the plant diversity of the country in the face of specific development challenges, and to respond to the technical and scientific needs of the CBD. Moreover, it can be preliminary information for reviewing of policies affecting PGRFA at the national level, institutional level, agricultural research and extension, formal education, and community level. Even though the NISM-GPA fits into the overall PGRFA system, without the cooperation of the stakeholders to provide their information, the mechanism may not achieve the goal. To get stakeholders participation was not a problem in Thailand but the problem was that most of the key persons who have gathered the PGR information wouldn’t continuously participate. The contractual officers would be assigned to do the jobs that lead to the inconsistency of the information. In addition, the objectives of the NISM must be clear to them at the first stakeholders meeting otherwise they wouldn’t participate again. For the countries that need bilingual NISM-GPA, demonstration on how to put information in the common tables at the beginning step must be clear and understandable as a number of participants were confused and have spent unnecessary time on this point.

One of the main obstacles of establishment of NISM in Thailand is that it is not a national priority. To achieve all the desirable aims of a NISM is certainly not easy. Economic reality, access to willing and devoted persons and effective coordination of many partners may influence optimal development. This makes the need for prioritizing the different activities even more important. National collaboration is hopefully granted through the programme, and international cooperation will contribute to its successful development. What we need are not more meetings, but more collaborative and international projects. It should be in the national programmes, which continue to be the platform for this development. Moreover, a limited public awareness threatens the viability of national programmes, assuming that awareness of the importance of PGRFA conservation and use results in political support and financial support for PGRFA activities.

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Three levels of recommendations are; (a) National level. Funds should be made available for competitive, goal-directed

research in areas of specific need, building capacity and empowerment of human resources and collaboration among institutes.

(b) Regional level. To strengthen regional activities for harmonizing legislation and promoting the exchange of technologies and expertise.

(c) International level. The international bodies should assist developing countries in developing inventories of PGR and in strengthening regional and PGR research centers, support participation of developing countries representatives in relevant global negotiation processes, supports developing countries in strengthening national and regional capabilities for the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, including implementation of priorities identified in the GPA for PGR, and provide technical assistance to assess and revise, where needed, national legislation, implement appropriate training, and enhance database development and technology transfer.

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Report on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture System in Viet Nam

Tran Danh Suu

Deputy Director, Plant Resources Center, Ankhanh, Hoaiduc, Hanoi, Vietnam

Viet Nam is situated in Southeast Asia, a center of plant genetic resources diversity. Viet Nam is regarded as one of top ten countries with respect to plant genetic resources. There exist 14,624 plant species in Vietnam, of which 150 are starchy species, 130 fruit crop species, 100 oil plant species, 90 fiber plant species, 1000 woody species, 1,836 medicinal species, and hundreds of spice and volatile oil species. According to preliminary statistical data, Viet Nam possesses 700 crop species belonging to 70 genera.

Having awareness of the importance of PGR conservation, the State Commission on

Science and Technology (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, nowadays) issued the provisional regulations on genetic resources management in 1987. The Government of Viet Nam ratified the International Convention on Biodiversity in 1994. Since then, the conservation of PGRFA has become a regular national task in Viet Nam.

The Plant Genetic Resources Center (PGRC) belonging to Viet Nam Agricultural Science

Institute was founded in 1996 and mandated to coordinate all the activities relating to PGRFA in the country. In order to strengthen further its PGRFA program the government of Viet Nam up-graded the PGRC to become an autonomous research institute under the Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and renamed it as Plant Resources Center (PRC) in 2005.

PGR conservation network system in Viet Nam consists of the Plant Resources Center

functioning as Focal Agency and 19 other related member institutions, located across the country. At present, a total of over 23,500 crop germplasm accessions have been collected and are

maintained ex situ, including over 16,500 accessions in the National Genebank and around 7,000 by the network’s members institutions.

In the National Genebank managed by the Plant Resources Center more than 16,500

germplasm accessions of more than 120 plant species are maintained in seed, field or in vitro collections, including: - Over 14,500 accessions of ca. 90 orthodox seed species in the seed cold storage in both short- and

medium-term storage conditions; - Almost 2,000 accessions of over 30 vegetatively propagated crops in the field collections; - Around 150 accessions of root and tuber crops in in-vitro collections in short-term maintenance

conditions. On average around 500 crop germplasm accessions are collected annually. During the 2000-

2001 period, under the National Seed Program, the Plant Resources Center more than 1,600 local varieties of 30 crop species were collected. Currently, efforts are being paid to collect crop germplasm from Son La Hydroelectric plant area, and by the end of 2008 around 3,500 accessions, mostly of indigenous and local origin, were collected.

Collections of some main crops maintained at the National Genebank such as rice, beans and some vegetables have almost 100% of accessions characterized. In total, more than 10,400 accessions maintained in the genebank were characterized for 50–60 morphological characters using

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standard forms. Of collections maintained by the Network member institutions, about 40-50% of accessions are characterized.

Due to shortage of facilities and financial inputs and limited capacity, less attention has been

paid to the evaluation of traits such as resistance/tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Genetic diversity studies of the main crops are carried out, each year around 100-200 crop varieties are analyzed by using molecular markers. Characterization and evaluation data on PGR from all the PGR conservation network members are gathered and put in computer software at the PR Center annually.

The seed regeneration of preserved genetic material is performed when the quantity of seed

is lower than the permitted conservation standard or viability is lower than 85%. Because of the cold storage condition, around 20% of the preserved accessions need to be regenerated annually. Each year around 1,000 germplasm accessions from ex situ collections are distributed for plant breeding, research, training and other purposes.

With the signing of the Letter of Agreement for establishing a NISM-GPA in Viet Nam between the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, FAO (FAO-RAP), and the Plant Genetic Resource Center (PGRC), [now Plant Resources Center (PRC) Viet Nam Academy of Agricultural Sciences] on the 4th of May 2004, Viet Nam has become one of the first countries taking part in establishing the NISM-GPA.

For the first time a national mechanism for information collecting and sharing has been

established in the country to facilitate the implementation of the GPA for conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA. Based on the information gathered through this Mechanism, national programs can assess the current status of PGRFA in the country, which will help identify the needs and priorities for PGRFA. The project has developed a website on the NISM-GPA in Viet Nam and the database has been placed on the website for access by SHs and other interested users. The information can be assessed through the Internet address: http://www.pgrcvietnam.org.vn.

In the past Viet Nam has collaborated with a lot of international institutions and organizations on PGR activities, such as Bioversity International, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), UNDP/GEF, Centro Internazionale Crocevia (CIC). Bilateral collaboration has occurred with National Institute for Agricultural Sciences, Japan (NIAS).

In order to strengthen the PGRFA system in Viet Nam and in relation to wider PGR

community, the following suggestions are proposed: - Establishment of a new seed genebank with the capacity of 100,000 accessions replacing the

old one, which has been operating for more than 30 years. - Collection of most local crop varieties all over the country, putting high priority to the areas

where the genetic erosion is occurring at a rapid rate. - Promotion of the evaluation and documentation of the conserved collection in order to

enhance the use of gene sources. - Strengthening in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity and on-farm conservation. - Promotion of national information sharing mechanism - global plan of action on PGRFA in

the country and globally. - Collaboration with the international community, such as international organizations,

institutions in exploration and use of PGR.

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Plant Genetic Resources Information Systems of Bioversity International and the CG System (Updates)

Leocadio S. Sebastian and Michael Mackay

Bioversity International

Bioversity International, as convening center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) System-wide Genetic Resources Program (SGRP), continues to improve and develop information systems for the better access and utilization of genetic resources. The Centres of the CGIAR have been leading a series of major informatics projects, including for the design, implementation and promotion of a one-stop entry point for information on and access to the collections held in trust for the world community by the CGIAR Centres. In 1997, the System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources (SINGER) was established to serve as a window into the collections held by the CGIAR. SINGER allows 'one-stop' public access through the internet and on CD-ROM to detailed information on almost 700,000 accessions held by collections in 11 CGIAR Centres. It offers specialized and innovative data searching and retrieval features that integrate multiple querying with mapping (global, regional, country), statistical (mean, variance and standard deviation) and graphical (scatter and distribution plots) functions. Users can search the data by crop, taxonomy, geography, and acquisition or transfer - or can focus on the collections in one Centre or of one crop and query data on the characteristics and performance of the samples. SINGER also offers users the opportunity to download data for further analysis. SINGER registers an average of 10,000 searches a month from researchers, plant breeders, farmers, and conservers.

Over the years, other systems, such as EURISCO and GRIN, have been developed

and integrate databases from various genebanks together with powerful tools for accessing and searching germplasm accessions.

More recently a mandate to develop a global information system came about with

the coming into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). This global information system will contribute to the sharing of benefits through making such information available to all contracting parties of the Treaty and build on existing systems.

A project that integrates existing genetic resources information and supports the

implementation of the Treaty’s global information system is the Global Information on Germplasm Accessions (GIGA) project. This is a partnership between Bioversity International, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Trust) and the ITPGRFA (Treaty). The GIGA project aims to help implement the rational system foreseen by the Treaty and includes the Trust’s interest in effective and efficient conservation and use. The overall goal of the GIGA project is to improve access to the germplasm in genebanks around the world by all users, including breeders. The project covers all major food crops, with a focus on the 22 Treaty Annex 1 crops: banana, barley, beans, breadfruit, cassava, chickpea, coconut, cowpea, faba bean, finger millet, grass pea, maize, major aroids, lentil, pearl millet, pigeon pea, potato, rice, sorghum, sweet potato, wheat, and yam, and a limited number of other crops of interest to the project collaborators.

GIGA will deploy three components to address the difficulties in making greater

use of genebank accessions. These are 1) the need to develop common information

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standards to describe the key characteristics of genetic resources, so everyone can communicate effectively; 2) the deployment of a new version of GRIN genebank data-management software (to be called GRIN-GLOBAL) being developed by the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA-ARS); and 3) the building of a user-friendly internet portal (or gateway) to accession level information on over 2 million accessions to help people find what they are looking for, be it information or samples from participating networks or genebanks. GRIN-Global aims to provide genebanks around the world with a powerful, flexible, user-friendly, plant genetic resource information management system that can easily be linked to other genetic resource information networks. It is being built using open source software that will be freely distributed with technical support. The accession level information system aims to provide a single gateway to access most of the significant world collections to facilitate access, utilization and benefit sharing.

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International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Ryudai Oshima

Associate Professional Officer International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

(ITPGRFA) FAO, Rome, Italy

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is crucial in the fight against hunger and poverty and essential for the achievement of Millennium Development Goals 1 and 7. No country is self-sufficient in plant genetic resources; all depend on genetic diversity in crops from other countries and regions. The Treaty aims at: • recognizing the enormous contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the

world; • establishing a global system to provide farmers, plant breeders and scientists with

access to plant genetic materials; • ensuring that recipients share benefits they derive from the use of these genetic

materials with the countries where they have been originated.

During the Third Session of the Governing Body 1-5 June 2009, eleven projects from developing countries were approved under the Benefit-sharing Fund as the first fruits of the Treaty's Multilateral System, which will receive more than $500,000 in total.

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Global Crop Diversity Trust

Luigi Guarino Senior Science Coordinator Global Crop Diversity Trust

c/o FAO, Rome

The Global Crop Diversity Trust is an independent international organization devoted to the development of a rational, efficient, effective, sustainable global system for the ex situ conservation and use of crop genetic diversity. The technical underpinnings of the Global Crop Diversity Trust are provided by the Global Plan of Action and policy guidance by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), of whose funding strategy it is a component. The Trust's endowment is providing long-term grants to assure the conservation and availability of globally significant collections under Annex 1 or Article 15 of the ITPGRFA. The Trust is also providing support for the urgent regeneration of unique, threatened collections, including many countries in Asia. On information, the Trust is partnering with Bioversity International (on behalf of the System-wide Genetic Resources Programme - SGRP), the Treaty Secretariat, the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) and USDA to develop a state-of-the-art genebank data management system (GRIN-Global) and a global portal for accession-level information on germplasm.

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Approaches to enhance the value of genetic resources in crop improvement

S.L. Dwivedi, H.D. Upadhyaya and C.L.L. Gowda

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru PO 502324, Andhra Pradesh, India

Introduction

Plant genetic resources are the basic raw materials for future genetic progress and an insurance against unforeseen threats to future agricultural production. Its use in crop improvement is one of the most sustainable ways to conserve valuable genetic resources. Over 6 million ex situ germplasm accessions are conserved in 1308 genebanks globally, of which, about 10% ARE held in trust by the CGIAR centers’ genebanks. ICRISAT has one of the largest genebanks in the CGIAR system, holding 119,074 accessions of its mandate crops from 144 countries (as of May 09). Of these, 113,830 accessions are designated to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture under the auspices of FAO. The genetic base of improved cultivars of many crops, including ICRISAT mandate crops, is narrow. In spite of large number of germplasm accessions available in the genebanks, there has been very limited use of these accessions in crop improvement programs. The reasons for the underutilization of germplasm include i) lack of accurate and precise large scale multi-location evaluation of germplasm, ii) lack of rational systematic entry points into the vast international collections, and the iii) lack of robust, cost-effective tools to facilitate the efficient utilization of exotic germplasm in plant breeding programs. Clearly, there is a need to increase the use of genetically diverse germplasm with beneficial traits in crop improvement programs to meet the emerging challenges in agricultural production. We discuss below the range of information that we have generated about the germplasm collections and the approaches to use information to identify genetically diverse germplasm. Included in the discussion are also updates on the manual for genebank operations and procedures, information bulletin on mini core, crop germplasm registration, feedback on germplasm utilization, and impact of germplasm in crop improvement. Assessing diversity in germplasm collection

The pattern of diversity was assessed in the global collection using characterization and evaluation data, recorded following crop-specific descriptors, obtained from the field evaluation of germplasm. Global data base on characterization and evaluation (http://www.icrisat.org) and passport information (http://www.singer.cgiar.org) on 116,148 accessions can be accessed online to extract information about any germplasm in ICRISAT genebank. Analyzing the pattern of diversity revealed that chickpea accessions with no anthocyanin pigmentation (kabuli types) were predominant in East Asia, Mediterranean and Europe. European accessions produced more pods per plant, largest seed and highest grain yield. Accessions from Africa had smallest seed. African germplasm were earliest to flower, while those from East Asia were of late flowering type. A higher proportion of accessions from South Asia, Southeast Asia and West Asia were found resistant to fusarium wilt. Seed color showed maximum diversity (Upadhyaya 2003a).

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South African groundnut accessions showed large range variation for most of the descriptors and on average had highest range variation. Primary seed color among morphological traits, and leaflet length among agronomic traits showed highest pooled diversity index (Upadhyaya 2003b). Diversity pattern in pigeonpea revealed that most of the germplasm were of semi-spreading type, green pigmentation, indeterminate flowering, and yellow flower. Primary seed color had maximum variability, with orange and cream seed coat color being the two most frequent in collection. Accessions from Oceania were conspicuous by early maturity, short height, fewer branches, pods with fewer seeds, smaller seed size, and lower seed yields, while those from Africa were of longer duration, taller, multi-seeded pods, and larger seeds (Upadhyaya et al. 2005a). The basic and intermediate races in sorghum showed immense diversity in panicles, spikelets and seeds. Large variation has been reported for days to flowering (36 to 199 days), plant height (55 to 655 cm), peduncle exsertion (0 to 55 cm), panicle length (2.5 to 71 cm) and 100-seed weight (0.29 to 8.56 g) (Stenhouse et al. 1997). Pearl millet germplasm revealed greatest variability for days to flowering (33 to 159 days), plant height (30 to 490 cm), tillers plant-1 (1 to 35), panicle length (5 to 135 cm), and 1000-seed weight (1.5 to 21.3 g) (Upadhyaya et al. 2007). In finger millet, the panicle forms and seeds showed greater diversity. The majority of the accessions had green foliage, with some purple and violet foliage. Erect types were more predominant than those from decumbent and prostrate growth habits. Light brown was the most common seed color followed by reddish brown, dark brown and white. About 3% of the accessions remained fully green until maturity – a valuable fodder trait. The panicle size and shape and seed color among finger millet germplasm accessions revealed maximum diversity, while accessions also differed for plant height, tillering, leaf size and shape, and erect to drooping panicles. Pattern of use and impact of germplasm in crop improvement

During 1974 to 2008, we supplied 1,354,036 seed samples to researchers in 144 countries including 654,348 samples to those in ICRISAT. The most frequently requested accessions were ICC 4918, ICC 4973, and ICC 5003 in chickpea; ICG 799, ICG 221 and ICG 156 in groundnut; ICP 7035, ICP 26 and ICP 7182 in pigeonpea; IS 18758, IS 1059 and IS 5604 in sorghum; IP 4021, IP 6271and IP 3122 in pearl millet; IE 2333, ISe 376; IPm 1545, IPmr 699, IPs 197 and IEc 51 in small millets. Most of these accessions are either released cultivars or landraces, and originated either in South Asia (India) or in Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Mali). The preferred traits in these accessions refer to wider adaptation, early maturity, large seed size and specialty trait (vegetable type pigeonpea). These accessions have been extensively used in crop improvement programs globally.

Several germplasm accessions have been used to develop cultivars and hybrids. In addition, many germplasm lines when evaluated by NARS produced higher grain yield that have been directly released as cultivars. Globally, 85 unique germplasm accessions, distributed to users from ICRISAT genebank, have been directly released as 108 cultivars in 38 countries. In addition, 572 cultivars (as of 2008) in 78 countries have been released

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by our NARS partners from the breeding materials supplied by ICRISAT that included the germplasm lines. These cultivars have greatly benefited those countries by increasing both production and productivity. Developing core and mini core collections

Core collections are a cost-effective means of identifying accessions with desirable agronomic traits as well as new sources of resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, in crop species with several thousands of germplasm accessions, even a core collection would be unwieldy for evaluation by the breeders in the multi-location trials. To overcome this, Upadhyaya and Ortiz (2001) postulated mini core collection concept which is a core of core (10% of core or 1% of entire collection) representing the species diversity. Mini core is established after evaluating the core collection for various morphological, agronomic, and seed quality traits, and selecting ~10% accessions from the core collection. Core and mini core collections have been developed in chickpea (Upadhyaya et al. 2001; Upadhyaya and Ortiz 2001), groundnut (Upadhyaya et al. 2002, 2003), pigeonpea (Reddy et al. 2005; Upadhyaya et al. 2006a), sorghum (Grenier et al. 2001; Upadhyaya et al. 2009a), pearl millet (Upadhyaya et al. 2009b), finger millet (Upadhyaya et al. 2006b) and foxtail millet (Upadhyaya et al. 2008). The concept and the process for developing mini core have been recognized as “International Public Good”. These core and mini core sets are dynamic in nature and subject to revision once additional dataset become available on new sets of germplasm. Using core and mini core to identifying new sources of variation Agronomic traits including yield

The core and mini core collections have provided several new sources of variation

for use in crop improvement programs. For example, using days to 50% flowering, pods per plant, seed yield and 100-seed weight as a selection criterion, Upadhyaya et al. (2007a) identified 39 accessions as most promising for early maturity, seed size and grain yield from chickpea core. Several pigeonpea accessions with early maturity, greater harvest index and shelling percentage, and high grain yield were identified (ICRISAT Archival Report 2008). Upadhyaya et al. (2006c) detected rich diversity among groundnut mini core accessions for early maturity, while more diversity for pod yield, shelling percentage and 100-seed weight was observed in Asia region core collection (Upadhyaya et al. 2005a). Pearl millet accessions with high green fodder yield, more productive tillers plant-1, high spikelet density earhead-1, greater grain yield, and large-seed size were identified (Upadhyaya et al. 2007b). Accessions with high grain and/or fodder yield, extra-early flowering, more basal tillers, panicles with variable exertion and head shape, and high soluble sugar content in stalk (for use in biofuel) were identified in sorghum. Likewise, accessions with high grain and/or fodder yield, early maturity, more basal tillers, and long inflorescence types were identified in finger millet and/or foxtail millet (ICRISAT Archival Report 2008).

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Drought tolerance

Root length and root mass have been recognized as important traits for improving chickpea productivity under progressively receding soil moisture conditions. Kashiwagi et al. (2005) detected large genetic variation in chickpea mini core for root length density (RLD) and for the ratio of plant dry weight to RLD, and identified nine accessions with largest RLD and the deepest root system in comparison to drought tolerant accession ICC 4958. Moreover, the chickpea landraces from the Mediterranean and the West Asian region showed a significantly larger RLD than those from the South Asian region. Eighteen accessions from groundnut mini core were found tolerant to drought, as measured by SCMR and SLA (Upadhyaya 2005). Salinity tolerance Vadez et al. (2007) reported six-fold variation in chickpea mini core for seed yield under salinity, with 16 accessions yielding more than saline tolerant control, CSG 8962. ICC 1431, ICC 5003 and ICC 15610 were highly tolerant to salinity. Likewise, many accessions from groundnut and pigeonpea mini core collections performed well under saline conditions (ICRISAT Archival Report 2008). Low temperature tolerance Upadhyaya et al. (2009c) reported several accessions with capacity to germinate at lower temperature (12oC), with many of them maturing and/or yielding similar to or greater than the controls. Some of the best performing low temperature tolerant accessions for pod yield were ICG# 12625, 13284, 2039, 13513, and 1824 in rainy and ICG# 12553, 12625, 7898, 10595, 6148, 6022, 7013, 7884, 7905, and 4992 in post rainy seasons. Resistance to diseases Pande et al. (2006) detected high level of resistance to fusarium wilt (FW) in 46 accessions while 3 were resistant to ascochyta blight (AB), 55 to botrytis gray mold (BGM), and 6 to dry root rot (DRR). Accessions with multiple resistance were ICC 11284 (AB, BGM); ICC 11764 and ICC 12328 (BGM, DRR); ICC# 1710, 2242, 2277 and 13441 (DRR, FW); and ICC# 2990, 4533, 6279, 7554, 7819, 9848, 12028, 12155, 13219, 13599 and 13816 (BGM, FW). A few sorghum accessions resistant to grain mold have also been identified. We have supplied 19 sets of core and 68 sets of mini core collections to researchers in 20 countries and scientists have reported finding useful variation for grain yield, grain quality, and resistance/tolerance to stresses. For example, ICC# 5879, 7255, 8350, 10393, 10885, 12033, 13125, 14203, 14187 and 14199 have been utilized in chickpea breeding in India (Kaul et al. 2005; Johnson et al. 2007). Groundnut accessions with useful traits included ICG 8760 and ICG 3787 (resistant to rust and late leaf spot) in India (Kusuma et al. 2007); 11 to 14 accessions either with high quality oil or resistance to bacterial wilt in China; five large-seeded accessions each in China and Thailand; and five accessions with high shelling percentage each in China, Thailand and Vietnam (Upadhyaya et al. 2006c). Pigeonpea accessions exhibited rich diversity for agronomic traits (Singh et al. 2007), while some of the accessions were better adapted to nutrient-poor soil conditions (Rao and Shahid 2007).

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Documenting feedback on germplasm utilization

Germplasm curators would like to have feedback from the researchers about the usefulness of germplasm that they receive from the genebank. This would help curators for better management of genetic resources in genebank. We have supplied 654,348 seed samples to ICRISAT researchers, 392,464 seed samples to researchers in India, and 307,224 seed samples to researchers in 143 countries (as of Dec 2008). We have developed a simple format for obtaining feedback from the users, which is sent along with seed materials. On following up with users, we now receive more feed back than in the past.

Crop germplasm registration

For information dissemination and avoid any claim on ownership, it is essential that germplasm/cultivars with specific attributes are notified for the benefit of researchers globally. ICRISAT has its own mechanism to notify the germplasm with specific attributes for registration. ICRISAT’s Plant Material Identification Committee (PMIC) rigorously scrutinizes the proposal for its scientific accuracy. To date, we have notified 257 germplasm for registration. More recently, ICRISAT has opened up its own online journal, Journal of SAT agriculture (http://www.icrisat.org/jornal/about.htm), for researchers including those from NARS to register crops germplasm. Manual for genebank operations and procedures

More recently, the earlier manual for genebank operation (Technical Manual no. 6) has been updated that will soon be available to users. It contains sections on germplasm assembly, plant quarantine, germplasm registration, seed processing and storage, monitoring seed health and viability, germplasm regeneration, germplasm distribution and utilization, crop specific descriptors, diversity assessment, and taxonomic classification of crops species. We hope that this manual will be helpful to genebank curators and researchers towards safeguarding plant biodiversity in ex situ collections and enhancing its use in crop improvement. Mini core information bulletin

An information bulletin on use of mini core collection for efficient utilization of

plant genetic resources in crop improvement will soon be available to germplasm users. Discussed in this bulletin are approaches to establish and validate core and mini core collections that researchers can apply for developing such sets in other crops. Conclusions

To sum up, the germplasm scientists and allied discipline researchers at ICRISAT

have generated huge data sets on characterization and evaluation of crops germplasm, which have been used to develop core and mini core collections. These subsets provided new sources of variation for use in crop improvement. Researchers globally can access the passport and characterization data on these germplasm. A number of germplasm with specific attributes have been registered in scientific journals. An updated version of the genebank manual will be available to those engaged in utilization and maintenance of germplasm. More feedback from researchers will help germplasm curators to serve the scientific community better, and to efficiently manage ex situ collections in genebank.

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References

Dwivedi SL, HD Upadhyaya, HT Stalker, MW Blair, DJ Bertioli, S Nielen, and R Ortiz. 2008. Enhancing crop gene pools with beneficial traits using wild relatives. Plant Breed. Rev. 30:179-280.

Grenier C, P Hamon and PJ Bramel-Cox. 2001. Core collection of sorghum: II. Comparison of three random sampling strategies. Crop Sci. 41:241-246.

ICRISAT Archival Report 2008. http://intranet/ddg/Admin%20Pages2009/Documents/Archival_2008.pdf. Johnson PL, RN Sharma, SK Nair, RL Pandey and OP Kashyap. 2007. Study of genetic diversity in chickpea under rainfed situation. Page 199 in Abstracts: National Symposium on Legumes for Ecological Sustainability – Emerging Challenges and Opportunities. IIPR, Kanpur, India. Kashiwagi J, L Krishnamurthy, HD Upadhyaya, H Krishna, S Chandra, V Vadez and R

Serraj. 2005. Genetic variability of drought-avoidance root traits in the mini-core germplasm collection of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Euphytica 146:213-222.

Kaul J, S Kumar and SN Gurha. 2005. Evaluation of exotic germplasm of kabuli chickpea. Indian J. Plant Genet. Resour. 18:201-204.

Kusuma VP, G Yugandhar, BC Ajay, MVC Gowda and HD Upadhyaya. 2007. Identification of sources of multiple disease resistance in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) mini core. Pages 31-32 in ISOR National Seminar, 29-31 Jan 2007: Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India. Pande S, GK Kishore, HD Upadhyaya and JN Rao. 2006. Identification of multiple diseases resistance in mini core collection of chickpea. Plant Dis. 90:1214-1218. Prasada Rao KE, JMJ de Wet, DE Brink and MH Mengesha. 1987. Intraspecific variation and

systematics of cultivated Setaria italica, foxtail millet (Poaceae). Econ. Bot.41:108-116.

Rao NK and M Shahid. 2007. Desert farming: continued quest for new crops. Biosalinty News 2007:2 (Int. Centre for Biosaline Agric., Dubai, UAE). Reddy LJ, HD Upadhyaya, CLL Gowda and S Singh. 2005. Development of core

collection in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] using geographic and qualitative morphological descriptors. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 52:1049-1056.

Singh F, ND Majumder, R Kant and G Kumar. 2007. Germplasm resources in pigeonpea – A scope for their utilization. Page 197 in Abstracts: National Symposium on Legumes for Ecological Sustainability – Emerging Challenges and Opportunities. IIPR, Kanpur, India.

Stenhouse JW, KE Prasada Rao, VG Reddy, and SA Rao. 1997. Sorghum. Pages 292- 308 in Biodiversity in Trust (Fuccillo L, Sears L, and Stapleton P, eds.). Cambridge University Press, UK.

Tanksley SD and SR McCouch. 1997. Seed banks and molecular maps: Unlocking the genetic potential from the wild. Science 277:1063-1066. Upadhyaya HD. 2003a. Geographical patterns of variation for morphological and

agronomic characters in the chickpea germplasm collection. Euphytica 132:343-352.

Upadhyaya HD. 2003b. Phenotypic diversity in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) core collection assessed by morphological and agronomic evaluations. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 50:539-550.

Upadhyaya HD. 2005. Variability for drought resistance related traits in the mini core collection of peanut. Crop Sci. 45:1432-1440. Upadhyaya HD, PJ Bramel, R Ortiz and S Singh. 2002. Developing a mini core of peanut for

utilization of genetic resources. Crop Sci. 42:2150-2156. Upadhyaya HD, PJ Bramel and S Singh.2001. Development of a chickpea core collection

using geographic distribution and quantitative traits. Crop Sci. 41:206-210.

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Upadhyaya HD, SL Dwivedi, CLL Gowda and S Singh. 2007a. Identification of diverse germplasm lines for agronomic traits in a chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) core collection for use in crop improvement. Field Crops Res. 100:320- 326. Upadhyaya HD, KN Reddy and CLL Gowda. 2007b. Pearl millet germplasm at ICRISAT genebank – status and impact. J. SAT Agric. Res. 3:1-5. Upadhyaya HD, KN Reddy and CLL Gowda. 2007c. Pearl millet germplasm at ICRISAT genebank – status and impact. J. SAT Agric. Res. 3:1-5. Upadhyaya, HD and R Ortiz. 2001. A mini core collection for capturing diversity and

promoting utilization of chickpea genetic resources in crop improvement. Theor. Appl. Genet. 102:1292-1298.

Upadhyaya HD, R Ortiz, PJ Bramel and S Singh. 2003. Development of a groundnut core collection using taxonomical, geographical and morphological descriptors. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 50:139-148.

Upadhyaya HD, RPS Pundir, CLL Gowda, VG Reddy and S Singh. 2008. Establishing a core collection of foxtail millet to enhance utilization of germplasm of an underutilized crop. Plant Genet. Resour. DOI: 10.1017/S1479262108178042.

Upadhyaya HD, CLL Gowda, RPS Pundir, VG Reddy, and S Singh. 2006a. Development of core subset of finger millet germplasm using geographical origin and data on 14 quantitative traits. Genetic Resour. Crop Evol. 53:679-685.

Upadhyaya HD, LJ Reddy, CLL Gowda and S Singh. 2006b. Identification of diverse groundnut germplasm: Sources of early-maturity in a core collection. Field Crops Res. 97:261-267.

Upadhyaya HD, LJ Reddy, CLL Gowda, KN Reddy, and S Singh. 2006c. Development of a Mini Core subset for Enhanced and Diversified utilization of Pigeonpea Germplasm Resources. Crop Sci. 46:2127-2132.

Upadhyaya HD, CLL Gowda, HK Buhariwalla and JH Crouch. 2006d. Efficient use of crop germplasm resources: identifying useful germplasm for crop improvement through cpre and mini core collections and molecular marker approaches. Plant Genet. Resour. 4:25-35.

Upadhyaya HD, CLL Gowda, KN Reddy and S Singh. 2009a. Augmenting the pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.)] core collection for enhancing germplasm utilization in crop improvement. Crop Sci. (in press).

Upadhyaya HD, RPS Pundir, SL Dwivedi, CLL Gowda, VG Reddy and S Singh. 2009b. Developing a mini core collection of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] for diversified utilization of germplasm. Crop Sci. (in press).

Upadhyaya HD, LJ Reddy, CLL Gowda and S Singh. 2009c. Phenotypic diversity in cold-tolerant peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) germplasm. Euphytica 165: 279-291.

Upadhyaya HD, RPS Pundir, CLL Gowda, KN Reddy and S Singh. 2005a. Geographical patterns of diversity for qualitative and quantitative traits in the pigeonpea germplasm collection. Plant Genet. Resour. 3:331-352.

Upadhyaya HD, BP Mallikarjuna Swamy, PVK Goudar, BY Kullaiswamy, and S Singh. 2005b. Identification of diverse groundnut germplasm through multienvironment evaluation of a core collection for Asia. Field Crops Res. 93:293-299. Vadez V, L Krishnamurthy, R Serraj, PM Gaur, HD Upadhyaya, DA Hoisington, RK

Varshney, NC Turner and KHM Siddique. 2007. Large variation in salinity tolerance in chickpea is explained by differences in sensitivity at reproductive stage. Field Crops Res. 104:123-129.

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Discussion Comments

Percy Sajise

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Steering Committee

Project GCP/RAS/240/JPN 30th June 2009

Following an initial discussion on 29th June regarding formation of a Project steering committee, during which Dr. S.K. Sharma was elected as chairman, a second discussion session, led by Dr. S.K. Sharma, was held regarding the composition and function of the Steering committee. Dr. Sharma presented proposals (below) that were accepted by the meeting. Composition Selected countries Donor – Makoto Kawase FAO – Duncan Vaughan CTA and non-member Secretary Bioversity – Leocardio Sebastian Selected countries India (Dr. S.K. Sharma) – plus new country from South Asia – Bhutan NFP (represented by Asta Tamang) Thailand (as host country – Dr. Wichar Thitiprasert NFP) plus new country from SE Asia – Indonesia – Dr. Sutrisno (NFP) Mongolia – East Asia – Dr. Bayarsukh (NFP) The objective being to select a mix of regions, large and small countries, new and old in relation to project activities Operations comments: 1. Between Regional Meetings all NFP and donor receive 6 monthly reports of CTA that

summarizes project activities and progress. All country National Focal Points are asked to submit to the CTA for the 6 monthly reports a report on progress in-country on project related activities that may be included as an Annex to the CTA report.

2. Chairman can contact each steering committee member for comments/advice on that

report. Anyone else can also comment on the report to Steering Committee Chairman and CTA.

3. Prior to Annual Regional Meeting Steering Committee will have a one day meeting to

overview the project and present recommendations for discussion to all countries. 4. Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting will be circulated to all NFP of the project

from the Secretariat Functions of the Steering Committee

a. To draw up guidelines and procedures for the implementation of the project activities;

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b. To guide the development of the work plan within the framework of the current project activities;

c. To monitor and review the implementation of project activities; d. To take responsibility for the identification of research and training need, if

necessary additional resources, for the implementation of project activities; e. To draw up mechanism for sustained collaboration between and among

participating countries and stakeholders as well as between the project and other FAO member nations and international institutions in sharing information, experiences and PGRFA in harmony with national and international agreements (such as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources fro Food and Agriculture and the Convention on Biological Diversity);

f. To give comments on the six-monthly progress (every June/July and December/January) reports of the project prepared by the CTA of the project within one week upon receipt of the report. The CTA report will annex progress reports from all NFPs.

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Annex 1

Programme Sunday 28th June Arrivals Monday 29th June 8:30-9:00 Registration, introductions 9:00-9:20 Welcome addresses – Addresses from Mr. He Changchui, ADG FAO-RAP, Mr. Masahide Hirokawa, Embassy of Japan 9:20-9:30 Photo 9:30-10:00 Project and meeting briefing - Mr. Duncan Vaughan 10:00-10:15 Bangladesh - Mr. Md. Khalequzzaman Akand Chowdhury 10:15-10:30 Bhutan – Ms Asta Maya Tamang 10:30-11:00 Break 11:00-11:15 Cambodia – Mr. Ouk Makara 11:15-11:30 India – Mr. S.K. Sharma 11:30-11:45 Indonesia – Mr. Sutrisno 11:45-12:00 Laos – Mr. Vayaphat 12:00-12:15 Malaysia – Mr. Nordin Shukor and Ms Tosiah 12:15-1:15 Lunch break 1:15-1:50 Plant Genetic Resources Information Systems of Bioversity International and the CG system - Mr. Leocadio Sebastian, Bioversity International Regional Headquarters for Asia, the Pacific and Oceania, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 1:50-2:25 Approaches to enhance the value of genetic resources in crop improvement – Mr. S.L. Dwivedi, ICRISAT 2:25 -3:00 Break 3:00-3:15 Mongolia – Mr. Noov Bayarsukh 3:15-3:30 Myanmar – Daw Aye Aye Myint 3:30-3:45 Nepal – Mr. Hari Dahal 3:45-4:00 Pakistan – Mr. M. Shahid Masood For project member country representatives 4:00-5:00 Project modalities setting up of Steering Committee 7:00 – 8:30 Dinner reception New Siam Riverside Hotel, Phra Atit Rd.

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Tuesday 30th June 9:00-9:15 Philippines – Mr. Clarito Barron 9:15-9:30 Sri Lanka – Ms Mallika Samarasinghe 9:30-9:45 Thailand – Mr. Wichar Thitiprasert 9:45-10:00 Vietnam – Mr. Tran Danh Suu 10:00-10:50 Break 10:50-11:30 Summary of country reports and discussion lead by Mr. Percy Sajise 11:30-12:00 Crop Diversity Trust - Mr. Luigi Guarino, Crop Diversity Trust, co. FAO, Rome 12:00-13:00 Lunch 13:00-13:35 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources - Mr. Ryudai Oshima, ITPGRFA Secretariat, FAO, Rome 13:35-14:10 FAO and PGR information - Mr. Stefano Diulgheroff, FAO 14:10-14:40 Break 14:40-15:20 Discussion of Steering Committee – Chairman Mr. S.K. Sharma 15:20- 15:35 The way forward with Project activities – Mr. Duncan Vaughan 15:35-16:30 General discussion and final comments - Mr. Percy Sajise, Mr. Songkran Chitrakon, Mr. Makoto Kawase and CTA. 17:00 Submission of evaluation sheets by participants Evening Free – Participants are provided with 2 options to go to shows they may wish to see if they want at their expense. Details provided in the arrival kit. Wednesday 1st July Departure

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Annex 2

List of Participants BANGLADESH 1. Mr Md. Khalequzzaman Akanda

Chowdhury Member-Director (Crop) Crops Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) New Airport Road, Farmgate, Dhaka Tel: (880-2) 811 8275 Email: md-crops@barc.gov.bd kzamancho55@yahoo.com

BHUTAN 2. Mrs Asta Maya Tamang

Deputy Chief Biodiversity Officer Ministry of Agriculture Scrbithang, Thimphu Bhutan Tel: (975-2) 351417 Fax: (975-2) 351219 Email: tamangasta@hotmail.com

CAMBODIA 3. Mr Ouk Makara

Director Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Intitute (CARDI) National Road #3 Prateah Lang, Dangkor Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel: (855) 23 219692 Fax: (855) 23 219800 Email: ou.makara@cardi.org.kh

INDIA 4. Mr S.K. Sharma

Director NBPGR Pusa Campus New Delhi 110 012 Email: director@nbpgr.ernet.in

INDONESIA 5. Mr Sutrisno

Head Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development (ICABIOGRAD) Jl. Tentara Pelajar 3A, Cimanggu, Bogor 16111 West Java, Indonesia Tel: (62-251) 8333440 Fax: (62-251) 8338820 E-mail: s.trisno@indo.net.id

sutrisnoh@hotmail.com JAPAN 6. Mr Makoto Kawase

Director of the Genebank National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences Kannondai 2-1-2 Tsukuba 305-8602, Ibaraki Japan Email: kawase@affrc.go.jp

7. Ms Fumiko Yagihashi Technical Official Research Promotion Division Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries of JAPAN 1-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8952 Japan Tel: (81-3) 3502-8111(ex. 86388) Mobile: (81) 090-9808-9398 Fax: (81-3) 3593-2209 Email: yagihash@affrc.go.jp (or fumiko_yagihashi@nm.maff.go.jp)

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JAPAN 8. Mr Makoto Sato

Techinical Official, International Research Division Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council Secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan 1-2-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8952, Japan Tel: (81-3) 3502-8111(ex. 5902) Direct: (81-3) 3502-7466 Fax: (81-3) 5511-8788 Email: makoto_sato@nm.maff.go.jp

LAO PDR 9. Mr Vayaphat Thattamanivong

National Focal Point Agriculture and Forestry Information Centre, NAFRI P.O. Box 7170, Vientiane, LaoPDR Tel/Fax: (856-21) 770892 Mobile: (856-20) 2211593 Email: duckcanard@yahoo.com;

vayaphat.t@nafri.org.la MALAYSIA 10. Mr Mohd Shukor Nordin

Deputy Director (Agrobiodiversity) Strategic Resource Research Center Mardi Headquarters, P.O. Box 12301 General Post Office 50774 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Tel: (603) 89437391 Fax : (603) 89437677

Email: dino@mardi.gov.my 11. Mrs Tosiah Sadi

Research Officer Strategic Resource Research Centre

Malaysian Agricultural Research Institute (MARDI) P.O.Box 12301, G.P.O. 50774 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: (603) 89438078/7391 Fax: (603) 89437677

Email: tosiah@mardi.gov.my

MONGOLIA 12. Mr Noov Bayarsukh

Deputy Director Plant Science and Agricultural Research Training Institute Darkhan-Uul Mongolia Tel: (976) 1372-28831 Mobile: (976) 9901-4174 Fax: (976) 1372-28826 or 24132 Email: bayar67@yahoo.com

MYANMAR 13. Ms. Aye Aye Myint

Senior Research Officer In-charge of Seed Bank Unit Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) Yezin, Nay Pyi Taw Myanmar Tel: (95) 067-416531 Email: ayeayemyint.dar@gmail.com

NEPAL 14. Mr Hari Dahal

Joint Secretary Government of Nepal Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: (977-1) 6631649 (home) Mobile: (977-1) 9841609595 Email: drdahal_h@yahoo.com

PAKISTAN 15. Mr M. Shahid Masood

CS0/Senior Director (IABGR) National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Park Road, Islalamabad-45500 PAKISTAN Tel: (92-51) 9255203 Mobile: (92-314) 5330782 Fax: (92-51) 9255201 Email: shahid617@yahoo.com

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PHILIPPINES 16. Mr Clarito Barron

Assistant Director Bureau of Plant Industry 692 San Andres St., Malate, Manila, Philippines Tel: (632) 525 3470 Fax: (632) 523 0765 Email: cmbarron@ymail.com

SRI LANKA 17. Mrs P.W.S. Mallika Samarasinghe

Deputy Director Plant Genetic Resources Centre P.O. Box 59, Gannoruwa, Peradeniya Tel: (94-081) 2388494 Fax: (94-081) 2388490 Email: pgrc@slt.lk

THAILAND 18. Mr Wichar Thitiprasert

Director Office of Agricultural Regulation Department of Agriculture Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Tel: (66-2) 940 6670 Email: wichar_doa@hotmail.com

19. Mr Songpol Somsri Senior Expert Office Department of Agriculture Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Tel: (66-2) 579 6588 Ext 17 Fax: (66-2) 940 5472 Email: songpolsom@yahoo.com

20. Ms Rungthiwa Thanumthat

Department of Agriculture Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Tel: (66-2) 940 7214 Fax: (66-2) 561 4665 Email: rungthiwa_pvp@yahoo.com

VIET NAM 21. Mr Tran Danh Suu

Deputy Director Plant Resources Center, Ankhanh, Hoaiduc, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: (844) 336 54965 Fax: (844) 336 50625 Email: trandanh_suu@yahoo.com

CGIAR 22. Mr Leocadio S. Sebastian

Bioversity International Regional Office for Asia, the Pacific and Oceania POBox 236, UPM Post Office 43400 Serdang Selangor, Malaysia Tel: (60-3) 89423891 Fax: (60-3) 89487655 Email: l.sebastian@cgiar.org

ICRISAT 23. Mr S.L. Dwivedi

ICRISAT Patancheru 502324, AP India Tel: (91-40) 30713165 Email: s.dwivedi@cgiar.org

Crop Diversity Trust 24. Mr Luigi Guarino

Senior Science Coordinator Global Crop Diversity Trust c/o FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy Tel: (39-06) 570 56315 Fax: (39-06) 570 55634 Email: luigi.guarino@croptrust.org

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Embassy of Japan in Thailand 25. Mr Masahide Hirokawa

First Secretary and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to ESCAP Embassy of Japan in Thailand 177 Witthayu Rd., Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 Thailand Tel: (66-2) 696-3000 ex.532 Mobile: (66) 081 809-6219 Fax: (66-2) 696-3017 Email: masahide.hirokawa@mofa.go.jp

Facilitators 26. Mr Songkran Chitrakon

111/114 Maneerine Park, Soi Tah It, Ratanathibeth Road, Tambol Sai Mah, Muang District, Nontha Buri Province, Nonthaburi 11000 Tel: (66) 081 809-3142 Email: chsongkran@hotmail.com

27. Mr Percy Eres Sajise Via Virginia 28, 00181 Rome, Italy Tel: (39-06) 787924 Email: P.Sajise@cgiar.org

FAO 28. Mr Stefano Diulgheroff AGPS

FAO headquarters Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy Email: Stefano.Diulgheroff@fao.org

29. Mr Ryudai Oshima

Associate Professional Officer International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department FAO Room B-626 Bis Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome, Italy Tel: (39) 06570 54369 Fax: (39) 06570 56347 Email: Ryudai.Oshima@fao.org

30. Mr Duncan Vaughan

Chief Technical Adviser GCP/RAS/240/JPN FAO RAP Tel: (66-2) 697-4142 Fax: (66-2) 697-4445 Email: Duncan.Vaughan@fao.org

31. Ms Wandee Jangkanipakul

Secretary, GCP/RAS/240/JPN FAORAP Tel: (66-2) 697-4133 Fax: (66-2) 697-4445 E-mail: Wandee.Jangkanipakul@fao.org

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Group photograph of participants at the first National Focal Point Meeting of project GCP/RAS/240/JPN

Front Row left to right: Leocadio Sebastian, Hari Dahal, Changchui He, S.K. Sharma, Ouk Makara Second row: Duncan Vaughan, Md. Khalequzzaman Akanda Chowdhury, Asta Tamang, Aye Aye Myint, M. Shahid Masood, Luigi Guarino Third row: Masahide Hirokawa, Tran Danh Suu, Tosiah Sadi, Sutrisno, Percy Sajise, Clarito Barron, Noov Bayarsukh Back row: Ryudai Oshima, Rungthiwa Thanumthat, Vayaphat Thattamanivong, S.L. Dwivedi, Songkran Chitrakon, P.W.S. Mallika Samarasinghe, Fumiko Yagihashi, Mohd. Shukor Nordin, Makoto Kawase, Wichar Thitiprasert, Makoto Sato

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