Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:02:37.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mainstreaming the continuum approach to the management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture through national strategy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2011

Chikelu Mba ,
Elcio P. Guimaraes ,
Gouantoueu R. Guei ,
Clair Hershey ,
Michela Paganini ,
Barbara Pick  and
Kakoli Ghosh
Chikelu Mba*
Affiliation:
Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
Elcio P. Guimaraes
Affiliation:
Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
Gouantoueu R. Guei
Affiliation:
Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
Clair Hershey
Affiliation:
Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
Michela Paganini
Affiliation:
Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
Barbara Pick
Affiliation:
Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
Kakoli Ghosh
Affiliation:
Plant Genetic Resources and Seeds Team, Plant Production and Protection Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Global food security could be imperilled by the combined pressures from the effects of continually evolving climatic conditions, demographics and other socio-economic factors, the demands of the livestock, bioenergy and fibre industries for food-based substrates, the static or decreasing availability of natural resources for agriculture and the impracticality of increased use of economically and environmentally costly agricultural inputs. The optimal harnessing of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in manners that translate their repertoire of hidden potentials into significantly enhanced crop productivities has been severally identified as crucial to achieving the required considerably significant increases in food production. The scope of the problems and the plausible means for addressing them compel the devising of novel and more efficient ways for deploying PGRFA in need-based crop improvement programmes. We posit a continuum approach to the management of PGRFA which links seamlessly the effective conservation and access to PGRFA through their use in developing superior and resilient crop varieties to the provision of their high-quality seeds and planting materials to the growers. To achieve the mainstreaming of this paradigm, we propose the institutionalization of overarching national PGRFA strategies that prescribe result-oriented action plans spanning above three components of the management of PGRFA for a country's priority crops. We also describe the strategy as a means for identifying and assigning responsibilities to critical stakeholders and providing for the governance of all aspects of PGRFA activities over specific time frames. Steps to developing and adopting a national PGRFA strategy are also suggested.

Keywords

Plant Genetic Resources for Food and AgriculturePGRFANational StrategyContinuumCrop improvementConservationPlant BreedingSeedStakeholderGovernance
Type
Research Article
Information
Plant Genetic Resources , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , April 2012 , pp. 24 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © NIAB 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bliss, FA (2007) Education and preparation of plant breeders for careers in global crop improvement. Crop Science 47: S250–S261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duvick, DN (1992) Genetic contributions to advances in yield of US maize. Maydica 37: 69–79.Google Scholar
Duvick, DN (1995) Plant breeding and biotechnology for meeting future food needs. In: Islam, N (ed.) Population and Food in the Early Twenty-First Century: Meeting Future Food Demand of an Increasing Population. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute, pp. 221–228.Google Scholar
Ejeta, G (2009) Revitalizing agricultural research for global food security. Food Security 1: 391–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO(1996) Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Leipzig Declaration. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
FAO(1997) International Plant Protection Convention. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
FAO(2008) Declaration of the High-Level Conference on World Food Security: The Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/foodclimate/HLCdocs/declaration-E.pdf (accessed 14 July 2011).Google Scholar
FAO(2009 a) How to Feed the World in 2050. High-Level Expert Forum, 12–13 October 2009. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Available at http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/Issues_papers/HLEF2050_Global_Agriculture.pdf (accessed 04 November 2011).Google Scholar
FAO(2009 b) Declaration of the World Summit on Food Security, Rome, 16–18 November 2009. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/Summit/Docs/Final_Declaration/WSFS09_Declaration.pdf (accessed 14 July 2011).Google Scholar
FAO(2009 c) International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at http://www.planttreaty.org/ (accessed 30 October 2011).Google Scholar
FAO(2010) The Second Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
FAO(2011 a) Working Document on the Implementation of Article 6. Fourth Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Bali, Indonesia, 14–18 March 2011. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at http://www.itpgrfa.net/International/sites/default/files/gb4w17e.pdf (accessed 14 July 2011).Google Scholar
FAO(2011 b) Save and Grow: A Policymaker's Guide to the Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Crop Production. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
FAO(2011 c) The report of the Thirteenth Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/023/mc192e.pdf (accessed 07 November 2011).Google Scholar
Fernandez-Cornejo, J (2004) The Seed Industry in US Agriculture: An exploration of Data and Information on Crop Seed Markets, Regulation, Industry Structure, and Research and Development. Agriculture Information Bulletin Number 786. Washington DC: Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, p. 213.Google Scholar
Fischer, RA and Edmeades, GO (2010) Breeding and cereal yield progress. Crop Science 50: S85–S98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO(2011 d) Corporate Strategy on Capacity Development. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at http://www.fao.org/capacitydevelopment/en/ (accessed 29 November 2011).Google Scholar
Foresight, (2011) The future of food and farming 2011 Final Project Report. London, The United Kingdom: The Government Office for Science.Google Scholar
Gepts, P and Hancock, J (2006) The future of plant breeding. Crop Science 46: 1630–1634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GIPB (2011) ‘Evolving a plant breeding and seed system in sub-Saharan Africa in an era of donor dependence’; ‘Plant Breeding and Seed Systems for Rice, Vegetables, Maize and Pulses in Bangladesh’; ‘The Dynamic Tension between Public and Private Plant Breeding in Thailand’; and ‘The strategic role of plant breeding in Uruguay: analysis through an agricultural innovation system framework’. Available at http://km.fao.org/gipb/http://km.fao.org/gipb/index.php?option = com_content&view = category&layout = blog&id = 173&Itemid = 100079&lang = en (accessed 14 July 2011).Google Scholar
Global Crop Diversity Trust (2008) Regional strategy for the conservation, replenishment and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Available at http://www.croptrust.org/documents/web/CAC_FINAL_English_250608.pdf (accessed 30 October 2011).Google Scholar
Miller, JK, Herman, EM, Jahn, M and Bradford, KJ (2010) Strategic research, education and policy goals for seed science and crop improvement. Plant Science 179: 645–652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, JK, Repinski, SL, Hayes, KN, Bliss, FA and Trexler, CJ (2011) Designing graduate-level plant breeding curriculum: a Delphi study of private sector stakeholder opinions. Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education 40: 82–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, M, Edmeades, G and Pehu, E (2006) The global need for plant breeding capacity: what roles for the public and private sectors? HortScience 41: 30–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, SE, Howden, SM, Crimp, SJ and Kokic, PN (2010) More than eco-efficiency is required to improve food security. Crop Science 50: S-132–S-141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, RL (2010) Mobilizing science to break yield barriers. Crop Science 50: S-99–S-108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spillane, C, Engels, J, Fassil, H, Withers, L and Cooper, D (1999) Strengthening National Programmes for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: Planning and Coordination. Issues in Genetic Resources No. 8. Rome: International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.Google Scholar
Tester, M and Langridge, P (2010) Breeding technologies to increase crop production in a changing world. Science 327: 818–822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Economic Forum – WEF (2010) Realizing a New Vision for Agriculture: A roadmap for stakeholders. A World Economic Forum Report Prepared in Collaboration with McKinset & Company. Geneva, Switzerland: WEF.Google Scholar
Traxler, G, Acquaye, AKA, Frey, K and Thro, AM (2005) Public sector plant breeding resources in the US: Study results for the year 2001. USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service 1–7. Washington, DC: USDA–Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.Google Scholar
United Nations(1992) Convention on Biological Diversity. New York, NY: United Nations Organization.Google Scholar
United Nations(2000) Millennium Development Goals. Available at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ (accessed 14 July 2011).Google Scholar