Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
Agrobiodiversity conservation should be the basic
component of any national agricultural improvement
programme. Programmes that manage agricultural genetic
resources need to reconsider their strategies.
Conservation based on genebanks (ex situ conservation)
must be broadened and be integrated with on-farm/in situ
conservation to be able to conserve much large species
and genetic diversity than would otherwise be possible.
In situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity (crop and
related species diversity) must be made an integral part
of agricultural development and supplemented by ex situ
conservation. It is obvious that the public sector will have
to take the lead in implementing such a comprehensive
approach, in which the private sector has an important
supportive role. National and intergovernmental laws and
regulations will have to provide the necessary legal
framework. Civil society organisations (CSOs) as well as
the private sector are becoming increasingly important in
filling this framework with development reality on the
ground. There is a great need for us to adapt to changing
conditions accepting realities of climate change, which is
a complex task and requires much research as much is
unknown. We are in early stages of understanding the
changing rules of the game, but I believe there is sufficient
experience and diverse resources available to deal with
the situation on short term basis, but for long term
solutions further research is needed. Complacency should
be out and we need to be strategic and need to involve
several stakeholders and plan early and systematically.
Some amount of crystal gazing and innovation (that may
or may not seem right, right now). That means we need to
be flexible and be able to change fast when situation
demands.
Keywords: On-farm conservation; in situ conservation, germplasm, plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, global warming, adaptation
Year: 2009
Volume: 69
Issue: 4
Article DOI: N/A
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
V. Ramanatha Rao info_circle
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