BP Singh

•Medium and Long-term Storage of Seed Materialin Gene BankR.K. SaxenaIntroductionThe Indian region is well known for its native wealth of plantgenetic resources with over 800 species of ethnobotanical interest.It has earned a prominent place among the recognised centres oforigin of cultivated plants and the areas of crops diversity of theworld.' India has played a lead role in recent years among thedeveloping nations for scientific and safe conservation as well asaccelerated utilization of PGRs by developing a capable system forthis purpose and accepting responsibility for coordinating suchefforts for the Asia and Pacific Region. Indian initiative has alsosucceeded in evoking keen interest in this subject among SAARCand G15 .developing countries who are now pooling their knowhow as well as other resources for adopting a regional strategy andcoordinated action plan for conservation, inventorisation, evaluationand sustainable use of plant genetic resources.The conservation of plant genetic resources is both safest andcheapest through seeds. It is important ,first to understand thestorage physiology of the seeds to be conserved. The seeds can beclassified into two distinct groups according to their storagephysiology. The first group is described as 'orthodox'. It includesthe majority of arable and horticultural crop species. In these cropsthe seed aging and loss of viability occurs as a function, not onlyof time, but also of temperature and moisture. Thus the storagelife of these seeds can be increased if moisture content andtemperature are reduced.