Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture: Management and utilization

Abstract

Plant genetic resources are a reservoir of genetic diversity and valuable material for the development of new cultivars adapted to climatic changes, tolerant to abiotic stress, pest and diseases, and with improved nutritional quality. These resources involve varieties, landraces, wild species, wild relatives, and mutants for use for food and agriculture. Conservation, sustainable management and use of plant genetic resources are of particular importance with regard to the modernization of agriculture that led to the disappearance or significant decrease in the number of indigenous populations. About 7.4 million samples are kept within gene banks, on field and in vitro. Out of this number, a quarter of the samples are duplicates in a number of collections. The stated number of plant samples is complemented by over 2,500 botanical gardens worldwide, where it is grown over a third of all known plant species and maintain the important herbarium and carpological collections. Conservation of plant genetic resources is regulated by a number of international and national legal documents. Plant genetic resources can be used in breeding programs as a source of specific genes for the development of new varieties, adapted to the new environmental conditions and to expand the genetic base of breeding material, as well as food, in food industry, traditional medicine and tourism.

Keywords

• gene bank
• genetic resources
• conservation and utilization
• management