http://croptrust.orghttp://croptrust.org http://croptrust.orghttp://croptrust.org

Pre-breeding in a rational global Pre-breeding in a rational global system for system for ex situex situ conservation conservation

International imperativesInternational imperativesInternational imperativesInternational imperatives

• GPA calls on countries to: “develop an efficient goal-oriented, economically efficient and

sustainable system of ex situ conservation”

• ITPGRFA calls on Parties to: “cooperate to promote the development of an efficient and

sustainable system of ex situ conservation”

Birth of the TrustBirth of the TrustBirth of the TrustBirth of the Trust

• Established under international law Oct. 2004

• Jointly founded by FAO and Bioversity (on behalf of CGIAR)

• Endowment fund target currently $260 million Fund at $80 mill long-term grants ($1.8 mill/year)

+ project funds (e.g. Gates Foundation)

• Essential element of funding strategy of ITPGRFA

• Technical framework is Global Plan of Action

The visionThe visionThe visionThe vision

A rational global systemfor the efficient and effectiveex situ conservation and use

of PGRFA

The State of the World - ChallengesThe State of the World - ChallengesThe State of the World - ChallengesThe State of the World - Challenges

• A lot of duplication A lot of un-duplicated accessions

• Lack of resources Inadequate equipment, facilities for storage

• Material dying• Little international distribution from many

collections

The State of the World - PressuresThe State of the World - PressuresThe State of the World - PressuresThe State of the World - Pressures

• Collecting in face of climate change etc. Especially CWR (only 10% of holdings)

• Demand for impact (i.e. use) Decline of public sector plant breeding

• Interest in underutilized crops• More, better access to data and germplasm• More, better data

The State of the World - The State of the World - OpportunitiesOpportunities

The State of the World - The State of the World - OpportunitiesOpportunities

• Regional and crop networks• CGIAR Centres• ITPGRFA• Tools

Biotech GIS

A possible solutionA possible solutionA possible solutionA possible solution

The present The future?

Conservation

Use

Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Safety backup

Long term collection: CG Centres etc.

Active national collection

Breeding/working collection

Farmers

Towards a rational systemTowards a rational systemTowards a rational systemTowards a rational system

• Finished strategies Banana, barley, breadfruit, cassava, chickpea, coconut,

faba beans, grass pea, lentil, maize, oats, pigeon pea, potato, rice, sorghum, strawberry, sweet potato, taro, wheat (+triticale, rye).

• Next Beans, cowpea, finger millet, pearl millet, yam.

• All regional strategies done Via regional PGR networks

- AEGIS

Towards a rational systemTowards a rational systemTowards a rational systemTowards a rational system

• Regeneration of unique, local, threatened material 21 Annex 1 crops, >200 collections, 80,000 accessions

identified by expert consultations, regional/crop strategies, regional networks

safety duplication

• Safety back-up at Svalbard International Seed Vault from the regenerations of seed crops

in-trust international seed collections

CropTotal no. of collections

Total no. of accessions

aroids 10 1,509

bambara groundnut 3 227

banana 11 1,412

barley 18 6,362

bean 24 7,291

cassava 5 1,180

chickpea 14 4,183

cowpea 24 5,098

faba bean 14 2,400

finger millet 8 9,927

grasspea 10 3,952

lentil 16 3,728

maize 33 12,803

pearl millet 10 2,751

pigeon pea 3 888

potato 6 4,621

rice 14 16,435

sorghum 24 14,266

sweet potato 9 1,731

wheat 23 26,304

yam 14 3,270

Svalbard, Norway 78° North, 15°East

Towards a rational systemTowards a rational systemTowards a rational systemTowards a rational system

• Information systems data management system for genebanks

- GRIN-Global

global accession-level information system- SINGER, EURISCO, GRIN, ++++

The future of genebanksThe future of genebanksThe future of genebanksThe future of genebanks

• Outsource some storage/distribution functions• Collaborate on genotyping• Focus on phenotyping (networks?)• Share data • Become users

Need more than just “better links” to users!• “Crown jewels” are not the accessions but the

products

The future of genebanksThe future of genebanksThe future of genebanksThe future of genebanks

• Re-tooling• Re-training• Re-thinking

Thank youThank you

http://croptrust.orghttp://croptrust.org http://croptrust.orghttp://croptrust.org