**9. Integration of farmers**

The variation of crops has multifaceted impact on farmers as it influences their choice. Farmers' choices are influenced by certain traits, such as high yield, pest and disease resistance, nutritional values, and processing and taste qualities. However, due to poor and scanty research, farmers are usually left with their local varieties, which they continue to cycle for years. Consequently, militating their production in general [25, 26].

Primarily, the benefits of preserving plant genetic resources in genebanks are to assist farmers, especially rural farmers. Farmers need to work with plant genetic experts in choosing crop reproduction systems, cycle time of landraces, and genotype and phenotype characterization [25].

Many farmers are presently left with little option to practice modern agriculture both as a way of life and a form of social interaction. Farmers have been indirectly

forced onto the global mono-cultural system of industrial agriculture, as evidentin their neglect of the traditional landraces, because of radically shrinking space for their (farmers') relevance and operation in the global food system. It has become very necessary moving forward for farmers to be schooled on genetic diversity of crops. The loss of potential of invaluable resources is hampering development of agriculture, especially in third-world countries. If plant genetic resources are well managed by all stakeholders, it will help reduce the high cost of food, reduce the cost of production, and improve both farmers and society at large [26–29].

### **10. Conservation strategy**

The initiation of programs to study modern germplasm conservation strategy has been instituted in many international bioscience centers. This has been prompted by the loss of plant genetic resources [20]. Currently, biodiversity is currently being lost at up to 1,000 times the natural rate. Some scientists and researchers are now referring to the crisis as the "Earth's sixth mass extinction," comparable to the last great extinction crisis 65 million years ago. These extinctions are irreversible and present a serious threat to our health. Identification and management of protected areas is the pivot of biodiversity conservation. We must ensure that collection methods are able to capture most variation and also techniques that reduce genetic erosion [20, 30].

The use of in situ and ex situ methods in conservation of plant genetic resources have been widely used. In situ techniques have been successfully used in collecting small zygotic embryos and taking them back in sterile state to the research laboratories. Samples are preserved and remain in good condition afterward. Ex situ methods like storage of seeds, the use of botanical gardens, and genebanks have recorded huge success in the conservation of plant genetic resources, especially in tree crops. Crops like banana, cassava, potato, and yam that do not easily produce seeds are better to conserve in field genebanks. For the sake of loss of information or sample identity, it is better to conserve duplicate samples to avoid total loss in event of calamity or destruction (Withers and [20, 31, 32]).

Human activities have continued to threaten the survival of our biodiversity. This continued pressure has resulted in rise in the number of species under threat. Factors, such as weed infestation and introduction of new species have been implicated in narrowing plant diversity. Urbanization and globalization are other technical factors threatening conservation of plant genetic resources with orphan crops being the hardest hit. We must be proactive in our approach to preserve our biodiversity, because biodiversity is an important factor for food security [5, 33].

### **11. Discussion and conclusion**

We live in a technologically advancing world that is having significant impact on the conservation of plant genetic resources. Concerns in agriculture about the loss of genetic resources and loss of genetic diversity propelled the response from scientists globally. This necessitated the use of advance technology. The use of advance biotechnological techniques, such as molecular marker technology, enzyme assays, cryopreservation, and modern genebanks have recorded huge success.

No concept is universally correct, and more than one may be appropriate in any context [34], underscoring the need for plant geneticists and crop scientists to work

#### *Revolution in Plant Genetic Resources DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107540*

together. As there is need to study, understand, and enhance the value of plant genetic resources through research. For a successful collaboration, there is need to understand the full extent of plant diversity and analysis of the best technological approach to adopt in conserving plant genetic resources [11]. This collaboration should also be extended between Africa and the international community as much of Africa's biodiversity is still understudied.

The use of modern techniques in plant genetic resources especially biotechnological techniques, genebank, and cryopreservation methods have been highly beneficial in improving conservation and management of plant genetic resources. Areas, such as diversity gap data, gene pool coverage,

and molecular markers technology are vital in advancing the science of how plant genetic resources can be properly managed [20]. This review article recommends a sustained and proactive strategy in sharing genetic diversity data among scientists and the integration of farmers into global network of food security. It is important to add vital plant biological information, such as genotypic, phenotypic, and epigenetics data into the database for easy access and traceability. Farmers should be able to access this information with ease too. Additionally, empowering local farmers with requisite biotechnological tools and knowledge and other advanced methods of conserving plant genetic resources will go a long way in sustaining global efforts on food security [16, 26, 28, 32, 35–47].
