Plant genetic resources management and conservation strategies: Problems and progress

The conservation of plant genetic resources has developed into an important technical, socio-economic and political concern over the past forty years or so. With the successes of the Green Revolution in the sixties and the concomitant losses of landraces of the major food crops, especially in developing countries, it became apparent that coordinated efforts to collect and conserve these threatened resources were needed. Genebanks were established in almost every country based on a two-tiered conservation concept that was developed for the storage of orthodox seed-producing cereal crops. However, vegetatively propagated and recalcitrant seed producing species, as well as other materials for which the genebank concept did not work, became increasingly threatened and also needed to be conserved. New techniques and strategies were called for. With the ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, considerable awareness was raised about the importance of conserving biodiversity, its sustainable use and the need for equitable benefit-sharing arrangements. The discussions that, among others, led to the CBD gave a real boost to in situ and on-farm conservation brought to light the realization that adequate management practices for genetic resources conserved in farmers' fields and home gardens were badly needed. This paper deals with important PGR management and conservation approaches taken by both public and non-governmental institutions, assesses their constraints and describes the progress made towards their further development.