WP5 Case study on genetic resources in food and agriculture

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Measures for the in situ conservation of plant genetic resourcesTill recently there were mainly informal initiatives for reintroduction and use of rare plantspecies: numerous private crop plant diversity organisations promote conservation andsustainable use of rare crops. They provide information, keep inventories and developconcepts and projects for conservation. For these initiatives it often proves very difficultto overcome the gap between small-scale ‚hobby‘ activities and more publicity andsuccessful economic operations.For plant genetic resources it is a problem to define what should be supported and how tocontrol activities. This might be one reason for only very few existing AEMs for theconservation of plant genetic resources.• Many Laender support measures for nature conservation and extensivemanagement of landscapes, which is the most important measure for theconservation of wild plants. Various grassland schemes help to maintainhabitats for rare grass species (and other animal and plant species), especially ongrassland on poor soils or moist meadows. Landscape management would as wellbe an ideal field for rare undemanding cattle and sheep breeds, as regional breedsare often best adapted.• In many areas maintenance and management of traditional orchards, whichstill harbour old and region-specific varieties of fruit trees while as wellproviding a habitat for many insects and other animals, is supported within anAEM. As well there exist ‘variety gardens’ growing old fruit varieties andmaking them available to interested gardeners as well.• Concrete rural development measures for genetic diversity of crops are rare.Within its cultural landscape scheme Brandenburg supports the cultivation ofendangered regional crop species and varieties (cultivation of listed varietiesof winter and summer barley, winter and summer rye, winter wheat, oat andpotatoes with a premium of 75-350 €/ha). Within Art. 33-measures, North-RhineWestphalia started demonstration projects for the promotion of crop plantvariety, organised by its Chamber of Agriculture, as these provide an importantlink to farmers via their advisory services.• There are seed production projects that e.g. serve organic farming, some of themconnected to local Agenda21 programmes.National Programme for Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant GeneticResources in Agriculture and HorticultureThe programme, adopted in 2002, is based on the Global Action Plan of the FAO andaims to implement its measures at the national level. It has been developed under the leadof BMELV together with representatives from the national level and the Laender, fromuniversities, research institutions and public organisations. The programme aims toprovide a basis for long term conservation and use, research and development ofcultivated and wild plant genetic resources as well as suitable agricultural andhorticultural ecosystems. An important objective is better documentation and information26
about plant genetic resources, a greater transparency of the institutional settings,clarification of the responsibilities and a better cooperation of authorities andorganisations involved in the conservation of plant genetic diversity. As well, theprogramme stresses the need for research on aspects for a framework for an effective onfarmmanagement.Anticipated measures are:• Registration and inventarisation of plant genetic resources;• Support of in situ conservation of wild animals species, that are relevant for foodproduction;• Support of on-farm management;• Development of concepts for monitoring and management and• Collection and ex situ conservation of agricultural and horticultural plants,including important special collections (fruit, vine, hop, tobacco and ornamentalplants) (identification of existing collections, distribution of responsibilities,optimisation of procedures and conservation methods)BMELV leads the implementation of the programme, together with a new Advisory andCoordinating Committee for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, whoseexpert groups will support the different actors in this area. As in animal genetic resources,the IBV/ZADI will provide central accession to the different databases and compilecomprehensive reports about measures. The Laender can set up own schemes or includesome measures in existing programmes. Of high importance are cooperation and goodcommunication between the different actors.Recent developmentsExamples for steps taken in 2003 are (ZADI-web-site):• Continuing activities for the regional/local registration and recording of oldvegetable species and cultivars.• Development of concept for recording/inventory of crops (including oldcultivars/landraces)• Re-discovering of lost crops (Bayerische Rübe)• Evaluation of barley cultivars within the national evaluation programme of plantgenetic resources for cereals (EVA II), drawing together the private breeder’sorganisations, the public sector and research institutes.• Completion of research project for the cultivation of lentils, including aspects ofon-farm management27
Page 5: on Genetic Resources for Food and A
Page 11 and 12: 2.2 Overview on the situation in EU
Page 13 and 14: 3 England3.1 Actors for the conserv
Page 15 and 16: for most of the native rare breeds,
Page 17 and 18: 4 Conservation of crop and livestoc
Page 19: concerning conservation and utilisa
Page 28 and 29: 4.4 Future measuresNew support meas
Page 30 and 31: concerning genetic resources in agr
Page 32 and 33: Most of the activities proposed in
Page 34 and 35: Whereas at the beginning the main f
Page 36 and 37: Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont founded
Page 38 and 39: Italy:• Italy supports the highes
Page 40 and 41: In order to ensure on-farm manageme
Page 42 and 43: • Mere in situ conservation is no
Page 44 and 45: European Commission (2005b): Synthe
Page 46 and 47: Annex 1: EU Monitoring Data for Rur
Page 48 and 49: Hesse (HE)LowerSaxony(NI)Mecklenbur

WP5 Case study on genetic resources in food and agriculture

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?