142
5 Conservation Costs of PGRFA
key indicator (see Fig. 5.8 ). Several other indicators could be utilized to indicate
the quality standard of the storage facilities, e.g., health indicators, loss of genetic
resources etc. But because of limited information available, the accessions still to be
regenerated present the most useful information, because regeneration of any
reproductive plant material in storage is an important part of the work of any
genebank and characterize the general conditions of a genebank (F AOIIPGRI,
1994). If the viability falls below 85% of its initial value, the accession is threatened
by extinction (Holden and Williams, 1984). Whereas some genotypes may loose
their viability quicker than others, it is a general rule that regeneration take place
every 10 years (see Chap. 2.4) in order to guarantee the viability of the accessions.
By taking the average over a time horizon of 10 years, a genebank must regenerate
approximately 10% of its stored germplasm every year, to meet this standard in the
longterm. Consequently, the quality standard of the analyzed national ex situ
conservation facilities has been divided into three categories:
• good quality standard, if less than 20% of the facility's accessions were in need
of regeneration;
• basic quality standard, if more than 20%, but less than 50% of the facility's
accessions were in need of regeneration;
• poor quality standard, if less than 50% of the facility's accessions were in need
of regeneration.
As can be seen in Table 5.19, only 8 (24%) of all analyzed countries could be
classified as having a good quality standard of long-term facilities. Additionally 14
countries (41%) have basic quality standards, whereby still 12 countries (35%) have
poor quality standards; this includes those countries without any long-term storage
facilities. It is worth highlighting that only Japan, Ethiopia and Poland report that
less than 10% of total genebank accessions require regeneration (Country Reports,
1996). Because of the lack of information, some assumptions had to be made
concerning the state of regeneration in some storage facilities (see Table 5.19 and
Appendix 15).
After analyzing the sub-objectives and key indicator, the degree of goal
achievement for the objective "freezing" can be assessed by combining the quality
standard of the storage facilities with the existence of long-term storage facilities
according to the following matrix (Table 5-17). The results can be seen in Table
5.19. The key question for the first objective was whether a country's conservation
activities may guarantee the long-term conservation of PGRF A - highlighting the
conservation of genetic resources for future use. It has been shown that even though
all analyzed countries have conservation activities, over 50% of these countries
have poor qualities regarding the long-term storage of PGRF A.
The key question for the second objective relates to the present use of PGRF A.
The demand for PGRF A is determined mainly by the conventional breeders at
present, but the demand by the biotechnology industry is increasing. The more the
demand specializes in specific genetically coded functions and even more detailed
to specific genetically coded information, the more important will be the
accessibility of genetic resources.
5 Conservation Costs of PGRFA
key indicator (see Fig. 5.8 ). Several other indicators could be utilized to indicate
the quality standard of the storage facilities, e.g., health indicators, loss of genetic
resources etc. But because of limited information available, the accessions still to be
regenerated present the most useful information, because regeneration of any
reproductive plant material in storage is an important part of the work of any
genebank and characterize the general conditions of a genebank (F AOIIPGRI,
1994). If the viability falls below 85% of its initial value, the accession is threatened
by extinction (Holden and Williams, 1984). Whereas some genotypes may loose
their viability quicker than others, it is a general rule that regeneration take place
every 10 years (see Chap. 2.4) in order to guarantee the viability of the accessions.
By taking the average over a time horizon of 10 years, a genebank must regenerate
approximately 10% of its stored germplasm every year, to meet this standard in the
longterm. Consequently, the quality standard of the analyzed national ex situ
conservation facilities has been divided into three categories:
• good quality standard, if less than 20% of the facility's accessions were in need
of regeneration;
• basic quality standard, if more than 20%, but less than 50% of the facility's
accessions were in need of regeneration;
• poor quality standard, if less than 50% of the facility's accessions were in need
of regeneration.
As can be seen in Table 5.19, only 8 (24%) of all analyzed countries could be
classified as having a good quality standard of long-term facilities. Additionally 14
countries (41%) have basic quality standards, whereby still 12 countries (35%) have
poor quality standards; this includes those countries without any long-term storage
facilities. It is worth highlighting that only Japan, Ethiopia and Poland report that
less than 10% of total genebank accessions require regeneration (Country Reports,
1996). Because of the lack of information, some assumptions had to be made
concerning the state of regeneration in some storage facilities (see Table 5.19 and
Appendix 15).
After analyzing the sub-objectives and key indicator, the degree of goal
achievement for the objective "freezing" can be assessed by combining the quality
standard of the storage facilities with the existence of long-term storage facilities
according to the following matrix (Table 5-17). The results can be seen in Table
5.19. The key question for the first objective was whether a country's conservation
activities may guarantee the long-term conservation of PGRF A - highlighting the
conservation of genetic resources for future use. It has been shown that even though
all analyzed countries have conservation activities, over 50% of these countries
have poor qualities regarding the long-term storage of PGRF A.
The key question for the second objective relates to the present use of PGRF A.
The demand for PGRF A is determined mainly by the conventional breeders at
present, but the demand by the biotechnology industry is increasing. The more the
demand specializes in specific genetically coded functions and even more detailed
to specific genetically coded information, the more important will be the
accessibility of genetic resources.