marker-assisted selection in wheat - ictsd

452Marker-assisted selection – Current status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fishplayers with a stake in research, developmentand diffusion of genetic material(ministry personnel, representatives ofNARES, private companies, NGOs, farmer’sgroups, etc.). However, its focus mustbe on developing new national agriculturalS&T (including biotechnology) policiesand strategies to: (a) support institutionalreforms, including intensifying cooperationat national, regional and internationallevels; (b) strengthen national capacities;and (c) identify new funding mechanisms.Within this process, countries need toidentify priorities and appropriate levelsof resources to assign to biotechnology inlight of their socio-economic conditionsand cultural contexts and, in situations ofno-growth budgets, they need to decide onwhat is to be diverted from other importantproblems. A critical issue is also reachingagreement on the roles and responsibilitiesof public and private sector entities.Suggestions are given later for consideringMAS within this overall context.An alternative – or preferably as part ofthe process of preparing a national agriculturalS&T policy – is to draw up specificsubsector strategies. This has the advantageof focusing minds and resources withinthat subsector in a holistic manner, forexample, in the case of the crop subsector,by bringing together stakeholders dealingwith breeding, conservation and seed production/dissemination.Another possibility,very attractive from both the S&T angle andfor avoiding the creation of new structures,is to cover modern biotechnology policydevelopment and programming throughexisting structures for managing geneticresources (see below for more details onrationale). Least attractive and cost-effective,but unfortunately all too often thecase, is for individual research institutionsand universities to draw up and implementpolicies and programmes that lack coordinationwith others dealing with the same orclosely related subject matter, in particulargenetic resources management.Whatever the path chosen and notwithstandingthe need to ensure nationalownership of the process, advice (if neededand requested) on the actual or potentialrole of MAS within the agriculturalS&T landscape should be sought fromindependent sources. These include theConsultative Group on InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR), FAO, theWorld Bank, the International Council forScience (ICSU), the InterAcademy Council(IAC), the InterAcademy Panel (IAP),regional academies such as the Federationof Asian Scientific Academies and Societies,and national academies.National policies on genetic resourcesin food and agricultureMAS needs access to DNA-based techniques,constructs, tools, databases,statistical packages, etc., and Chapter 20describes the IPRs surrounding these whichinclude patents, copyrights, trademarksetc., as well as providing suggestions toNARES about acquiring these technologicalresources. However, successful applicationof MAS also depends on accessing newbreeding techniques and, as many nationalcollections may lack sufficient diversity(e.g. to reduce vulnerability to pests anddiseases), they may need to acquire geneticresources that are available in other countrieswithin landraces, wild ancestors andrelatives, parental and breeding lines, protectedvarieties, breeds and broodstock.Additionally, as knowledge grows of thelinkages between phenotype and genotype,awareness increases of the potentialvalue of genetic resources and, as participatoryprocesses involving local communities