**2. Management of germplasm collection**

Plant genetic resources are essential to a sustainable agriculture and food security. FAO estimates humans have used some 10,000 species for food throughout history. However, only about 120 cultivated species provide around 90% of food requirements and 4 species (Maize, Wheat, Rice and Potatoes) provide about 60% of human dietary energy for the world's population. Of the myriad of varieties of these crops developed by farmers over millennia, which form an important part of agricultural biodiversity, more than 75% have been lost in the past 100 years.

Some fear that corporate financial interests might prevent safeguarding of livelihoods, promotion of food security, biodiversity-rich farming under control of local communities.

The best way of conserving fruit germplasm collection is their utilization. However, today these resources are not only underutilized but also under conserved. The Global Plan of Action therefore supports activities improving *in situ* and *ex situ* conservation of plant collection. Regarding *ex situ* conservation, millions of accessions are already stored in hundreds of germplasm collections around the world for both conservation and utilization purposes. Find short descriptions about these germplasm databases and links to their websites by searching either by database type or by free text search.

#### **2.1 The** *in situ* **management of germplasm collection**

Awareness of the importance and value of crop wild relatives and of the need to conserve them *in situ* has increased. A global strategy for crop wild relatives preservation and use has been drafted, protocols for the *in situ* conservation of crop wild relatives are now available. The number and coverage of protected areas are expanding the last years and this has indirectly led to a greater protection of crop wild relatives.

Important progress has been made in the development of tools and techniques to assess and monitor plant genetic resources for food and agriculture within agricultural production systems. Countries now report a greater considerate of the amount and distribution of genetic diversity in the field, as well as the value of local seed systems in maintaining such diversity. More consideration is now being paid in several countries to increasing genetic diversity within production systems as a way to reduce risk, particularly in light of changes in climate, pests and diseases. The number of on-farm management projects is increased somewhat and new legal mechanisms have been put in place in several countries to enable farmers to market genetically diverse varieties. There is still a need for more effective policies, regulations governing the *in situ* and on-farm management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, both inside and outside protected areas, and closer collaboration and coordination are needed between the agriculture and environment sectors. Many aspects of *in situ* management still require further research and strengthened research capacity is required in such areas as the taxonomy of crop wild relatives and the use of molecular tools to conduct inventories and surveys.

#### **2.2 The** *ex situ* **management of germplasm collection**

The total number of varieties conserved *ex situ* international has reached 7.4 million. While new collecting accounted for at least 240,000 varieties, and possibly considerably more, much of the overall increase is the result of exchange. It is estimated that less than 30% of the total number of varieties are distinct (FAO, 2010). There is still a need for greater rationalization among collections globally.

The existing *ex situ* collections of fruit tree germplasm may valuably provide either a source of genes potentially useful as raw material in plant breeding, or plants directly valid for a sustainable production. With respect to the latter item, we refer to those local varieties that, having evolved for a very long period in a location, and having developed adaptative traits well integrated with the environmental, agronomic, cultural and traditional features of the site and more or less recently have been replaced with new varieties. The needs of modern agriculture, such as sustainability call for the cultivation of a wider range of diverse material that could better respond to the different aspects involved. Specifically, if it is necessary to obtain new varieties with a broader genetic base, capable of producing under diverse conditions and to respond to different stresses – *i.e.* drought, pests, low fertility of the soil etc. –, on the other hand, in some cases, the reintroduction of old local varieties and the safeguard of traditional farming systems and landscapes, can be very profitable from an economic and socio-economic point of views. In general, the lack of information about plant genetic resources conserved have the effect of limiting the use that can be made of large existing collections, restricting the value and the usefulness of a collection even within the owning institute and among other potential users. Hence, assessing the traits of the germplasm conserved in a collection is an essential prerequisite to a proper and wide utilization of the plant material conserved and it is the first step toward a further definition of the roles that the varieties can play in sustainable production, through the direct use or in breeding programmes.

Germplasm collections established and maintained by genebanks provide for the present and future utilization of plant genetic resources. In the early stages of collection development, the focus was mainly on acquisition *per se*, and less on optimizing collection composition. Many germoplasm collections were started from working collections that had been used to support specific purposes, including breeding, crop improvement and taxonomic studies. In many cases, germplasm collections expanded their collections thereafter by including obsolete varieties, research lines or samples obtained from collecting missions to natural distribution areas of crops and their wild relatives.

There is still a need for greater rationalization among collections globally. Scientific understanding of the on-farm management of genetic diversity has increased. While this approach to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture is becoming increasingly mainstreamed within national programmes, further efforts are needed in this regard. With the development of new molecular techniques, the amount of data available on genetic diversity has increased dramatically, leading to an improved understanding of issues such as domestication, genetic erosion and genetic vulnerability.

The largest total numbers of *ex situ* varieties are of wheat, rice, barley and maize accounting for 77% of the total cereal and pseudo-cereal holdings. Other large cereal holdings include sorghum (about 235,000 varieties) and pearl millet (more than 65,000 varieties; FAO, 2010). In some tropical countries, roots and tubers, including cassava, potato, yam, sweet potato and aroids, are more important as staple foods than cereals, but being more difficult to conserve, collection sizes tend to be smaller. Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP, Spain)

much of the overall increase is the result of exchange. It is estimated that less than 30% of the total number of varieties are distinct (FAO, 2010). There is still a need for greater

The existing *ex situ* collections of fruit tree germplasm may valuably provide either a source of genes potentially useful as raw material in plant breeding, or plants directly valid for a sustainable production. With respect to the latter item, we refer to those local varieties that, having evolved for a very long period in a location, and having developed adaptative traits well integrated with the environmental, agronomic, cultural and traditional features of the site and more or less recently have been replaced with new varieties. The needs of modern agriculture, such as sustainability call for the cultivation of a wider range of diverse material that could better respond to the different aspects involved. Specifically, if it is necessary to obtain new varieties with a broader genetic base, capable of producing under diverse conditions and to respond to different stresses – *i.e.* drought, pests, low fertility of the soil etc. –, on the other hand, in some cases, the reintroduction of old local varieties and the safeguard of traditional farming systems and landscapes, can be very profitable from an economic and socio-economic point of views. In general, the lack of information about plant genetic resources conserved have the effect of limiting the use that can be made of large existing collections, restricting the value and the usefulness of a collection even within the owning institute and among other potential users. Hence, assessing the traits of the germplasm conserved in a collection is an essential prerequisite to a proper and wide utilization of the plant material conserved and it is the first step toward a further definition of the roles that the varieties can play in sustainable production, through the direct use or in

Germplasm collections established and maintained by genebanks provide for the present and future utilization of plant genetic resources. In the early stages of collection development, the focus was mainly on acquisition *per se*, and less on optimizing collection composition. Many germoplasm collections were started from working collections that had been used to support specific purposes, including breeding, crop improvement and taxonomic studies. In many cases, germplasm collections expanded their collections thereafter by including obsolete varieties, research lines or samples obtained from collecting

There is still a need for greater rationalization among collections globally. Scientific understanding of the on-farm management of genetic diversity has increased. While this approach to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture is becoming increasingly mainstreamed within national programmes, further efforts are needed in this regard. With the development of new molecular techniques, the amount of data available on genetic diversity has increased dramatically, leading to an improved understanding of issues such as domestication, genetic erosion and genetic vulnerability.

The largest total numbers of *ex situ* varieties are of wheat, rice, barley and maize accounting for 77% of the total cereal and pseudo-cereal holdings. Other large cereal holdings include sorghum (about 235,000 varieties) and pearl millet (more than 65,000 varieties; FAO, 2010). In some tropical countries, roots and tubers, including cassava, potato, yam, sweet potato and aroids, are more important as staple foods than cereals, but being more difficult to conserve, collection sizes tend to be smaller. Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP, Spain)

missions to natural distribution areas of crops and their wild relatives.

rationalization among collections globally.

breeding programmes.

holds the world's largest sweet potato collection (more than 6,400 varieties) as well as the third largest potato collection (representing about 8% of total world holdings of about 98,000 varieties) after those of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA, France) and N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Plant Industry (Russian Federation).

Other important collections of olive tree (*Olea europaea* L. subsp. *europaea* var. *europaea*) are found at several Mediterranean countries at Aegean Agricultural Research Institute of Turkey (AARI, Turkey), Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura - Centro di Ricerca per l'Olivicoltura e l'Industria Olearia (Agricultural Research Council - Olive growing and OiL Industry research centre, CRA-OLI, Italy), Horticulture and Subtropical Crops Research Institute (HSCRI, Azerbaijan), Junta de Andalucía, Instituto Andaluz de Investigación Agroalimentaria y Pesquera, Centro de Investigación y Formación Agroalimentaria Córdoba (CIFACOR, Spain), National Plant Gene Bank of Iran was placed in the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute (NPGBI-SPII, Iran). The largest olive collection (accounting for 17% of the total olive trees with more than 500 varieties) is held by CRA-OLI in Italy, followed by the collections of the CIFACOR in Spain.

The systematic collection of Italian olive varieties for deposit into specific catalogue fields began in Italy in the 1980s. A similar international collection was begun in 1997 by CRA-OLI of Rende, Italy. Collection entailed the following steps: a survey of the territory, individuation, basic characterization, and introduction into the gene bank field. Material identified by other international scientific institutions (International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture - Plant Genetic Resources RGV-FAO Projects) was also included. To date, roughly 500 varieties have been introduced into the CRA-OLI collection, and this list has been published (web site http://apps3.fao.org/wiews/olive/oliv.jsp).

The olive tree is one of the oldest cultivated plants, and its fruit has been used for nourishment for more than 5,000 years in the Mediterranean regions where it originated. Over the last few centuries, cultivation of the olive tree has spread to North and South America, as well as Japan, South Africa, and Australia. Due to the tree's need for a warm but not excessively hot climate, it can be cultivated in both the northern and southern hemispheres between 30 and 45 degrees latitude, with the exception of some equatorial regions where olive trees are grown at high altitude. Nowadays, olives are produced in more than 40 countries spread across all six inhabited continents, and even in exotic places like Hawaii.

A useful olive germplasm collection also requires an organizational system devoid of homonymy, synonymy and mislabelling so that a reliable classification of all varieties can be achieved without unnecessary confusion. Recent research has focused on using morphology and biochemical and molecular markers to characterize and identify olive varieties. The identification of varieties and varieties using molecular markers is a crucial aim of modern horticulture, because such a technique would greatly facilitate breeding programmes and germplasm collection management.
