7.1 The Conservation and Service Center as a Focal Point of PGRFA
177
breeding quality of the gennplasm 98 on the one hand, and the poor quality of
conservation management on the other. Hence, in order to supply the breeding
market with high quality material, the conservation institutes must process
germplasm from raw material into high quality genetically coded information.
In times of increasing privatization of the breeding activities, and therefore
higher competition between breeders, and a continuously increasing demand for
food produced on limited arable land, the breeding industry is looking for means
to reduce the breeding cycle. Genetic engineering is one way of reducing the time
span between the start of a breeding program and the final variety by
incorporating only specific genetically coded information into the breeding line.
The conventional breeding, however, lacking the capacity for genetic engineering,
is able to reduce the length of a breeding program by making more selective
crossings. Hence, both breeding techniques are in search of well processed
genetically coded infonnation. Presently, these are available in restricted numbers
of the elite lines of breeders. If the PGRF A conserved worldwide could be
processed, the supply of a huge diversity of reidentifiable and technically properly
treated genetically coded infonnation could be made available to the breeders and
considerable willingness to pay for such information may be expected.
Following this argumentation, it is obvious that the storage facilities will have
to playa more active role in the future. As the interface between conservation and
utilization, the genebanks and their related facilities (e.g., tissue culture,
cryopreservation facilities, and botanical garden) must bridge the gap between
conservation and utilization by:
• improving their quality standards for the ex situ conserved material (health,
regeneration etc.),
• improving the processing of the conserved gennplasm (characterization,
evaluation and prebreeding programs) as to transfonn PGRF A from raw
material into attractive genetically coded information,
• coordinating all in situ conservation programs (from on-fann management to
habitat conservation),
• surveying the area under landraces, especially the transfonnation of production
systems in marginal areas,
• centralizing all national relevant information, and
• presenting all national storage facilities as one conservation and service center
being the supplier of genetically coded infonnation for the breeding industry.
It is of no importance whether the conservation center is made up of only one
storage facility in a very centralized system (as in India) or as various storage
facilities including research units in a more decentralized system (as in Gennany);
important is that the different conservation and processing efforts are coordinated
and that the infonnation is presented as a unit for the demand side (see Fig. 7.1. ).
It has to be the focal point for all information on ex situ and in situ conservation
activities in the country as well as for any collaboration on international level.
98 By integrating germplasm from a landrace in a breeding program, the whole breeding cycle is
prolonged for about 10 or more years (Smith and Salhuana, 1996).
177
breeding quality of the gennplasm 98 on the one hand, and the poor quality of
conservation management on the other. Hence, in order to supply the breeding
market with high quality material, the conservation institutes must process
germplasm from raw material into high quality genetically coded information.
In times of increasing privatization of the breeding activities, and therefore
higher competition between breeders, and a continuously increasing demand for
food produced on limited arable land, the breeding industry is looking for means
to reduce the breeding cycle. Genetic engineering is one way of reducing the time
span between the start of a breeding program and the final variety by
incorporating only specific genetically coded information into the breeding line.
The conventional breeding, however, lacking the capacity for genetic engineering,
is able to reduce the length of a breeding program by making more selective
crossings. Hence, both breeding techniques are in search of well processed
genetically coded infonnation. Presently, these are available in restricted numbers
of the elite lines of breeders. If the PGRF A conserved worldwide could be
processed, the supply of a huge diversity of reidentifiable and technically properly
treated genetically coded infonnation could be made available to the breeders and
considerable willingness to pay for such information may be expected.
Following this argumentation, it is obvious that the storage facilities will have
to playa more active role in the future. As the interface between conservation and
utilization, the genebanks and their related facilities (e.g., tissue culture,
cryopreservation facilities, and botanical garden) must bridge the gap between
conservation and utilization by:
• improving their quality standards for the ex situ conserved material (health,
regeneration etc.),
• improving the processing of the conserved gennplasm (characterization,
evaluation and prebreeding programs) as to transfonn PGRF A from raw
material into attractive genetically coded information,
• coordinating all in situ conservation programs (from on-fann management to
habitat conservation),
• surveying the area under landraces, especially the transfonnation of production
systems in marginal areas,
• centralizing all national relevant information, and
• presenting all national storage facilities as one conservation and service center
being the supplier of genetically coded infonnation for the breeding industry.
It is of no importance whether the conservation center is made up of only one
storage facility in a very centralized system (as in India) or as various storage
facilities including research units in a more decentralized system (as in Gennany);
important is that the different conservation and processing efforts are coordinated
and that the infonnation is presented as a unit for the demand side (see Fig. 7.1. ).
It has to be the focal point for all information on ex situ and in situ conservation
activities in the country as well as for any collaboration on international level.
98 By integrating germplasm from a landrace in a breeding program, the whole breeding cycle is
prolonged for about 10 or more years (Smith and Salhuana, 1996).