marker-assisted selection in wheat - ictsd

454Marker-assisted selection – Current status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fishand tools are sought, could be serious forindividual researchers and their institutions.All of these aspects must thereforebe managed in a well coordinated, efficientand fair manner if countries are torealize fully the potential offered by MASto contribute to national food security andagricultural development.Most developing countries have activitiesdealing with specific aspects of plantgenetic resources for food and agriculture(PGRFA) and substantial numbers haveestablished cross-institutional programmesand coordination mechanisms includingcrop-specific bodies and networks to setpriorities, evaluate progress and in generalto promote the more effective use of geneticresources. In the case of livestock, and asnoted in the draft report on the State of theWorld’s Animal Genetic Resources for Foodand Agriculture, presented at the FourthSession of the Intergovernmental TechnicalWorking Group on Animal GeneticResources for Food and Agriculture, heldat FAO headquarters in December 2006(www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/genetics/documents/AH473e00.pdf), apartfrom a few (mainly northern hemisphere)countries with well-developed commerciallivestock enterprises, interest in the topicis often limited to isolated departmentswithin institutes that are rarely involvedin animal genetic resources-related activities.In the case of forestry, nationalprogrammes have been established withconsultative fora and lead institutions oftenoutside the Ministry of Agriculture, andessentially similar arrangements operatewith fisheries. India, for example, has aNational Bureau within the Indian Councilfor Agricultural Research (ICAR) devotedto fish genetic resources, which undertakeswork with microsatellite markers for populationgenetic analysis and determininggenetic variation among and within inlandspecies.With respect to national biodiversityprogrammes, by being Parties to the CBD,countries have committed themselves toestablishing policies, legal and regulatoryframeworks and programmes for conservingand using both wild and non-wildbiodiversity in a sustainable manner and, indoing so, to establish national BiodiversityStrategies and Action Plans (BSAPs)through focal points invariably coordinatedby Ministries of Environment.At present, however, few countriesemphasize the conservation and sustainableuse of GRFA in their PRSPs and agriculturaldevelopment plans, or have strategicand holistic roadmaps as to how theseresources should be managed within a particularsubsector, let alone how this willbe accomplished across subsectors. Suchdeficiencies are not conducive to prioritysetting and reaching agreement on specificprogrammes and projects, and thereforejeopardize funding of the most criticalneeds and the attainment of national objectives.Since genetic resources are the rawmaterials to which molecular methods andapproaches such as MAS are applied, thesedeficiencies inevitably also lead to ineffectiveand inefficient integration of modernbiotechnology into national programmes.To put management of GRFA on abetter footing, including through theappropriate integration of MAS and relatedapproaches, countries need to establish orstrengthen existing organizational structuresand programmes that respond tonational development objectives. Thismeans ensuring that: they are well linked tothe wider policies and programmes drawnup for agriculture, biodiversity and biotechnology;that they take into accountthe perspectives both of public institutions