In the United States, the critical task of preserving our plant genetic resources is the responsibility of the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS).NPGS undergoes a thorough analysis in this book, ...which offers wide-ranging recommendations for equipping the agency to better meet U.S. needs--and lead international conservation efforts.The book outlines the importance and status of plant genetic conservation and evaluates NPGS's multifaceted operations. Two options for revamping NPGS within the U.S. Department of Agriculture are included.
Genes in the field Brush, Stephen B
Genes in the field,
c2000, 2000
eBook
The diversity of crop plants is one of our most important biological resources, and the most important source of crop genes are the fields of peasant farmers in regions where crop domestication and ...evolution have occurred. Today, however, crop genes are threatened by social and technological change such as human population growth, the use of new agricultural technologies, the development of new varieties, and the commercialization of agriculture. Gene banks have been successful in capturing much of the genetic diversity of crop species, but it is also essential that the environmental systems where the crop genes evolve also be conserved. This work provides an interdisciplinary foundation for an important new conservation program: maintaining biological resources of crop plants within the systems where they have evolved. The book offers a global vision of the on-farm conservation movement and provides a comprehensive review of the issues and challenges of on-farm conservation of genetic resources. The book's chapters are written by a collection of outstanding scholars and academics from a variety of disciplines; they include biologists, agronomists, anthropologists, economists, lawyers, and agricultural development specialists. It should appeal to a varied international audience, particularly to professionals in the fields of conservation and agricultural development and those who are involved in planning or implementing conservation programs. For course work, the book is appropriate for graduate programs in agricultural development and conservation.
Nearly a century has been spent collecting and preserving genetic diversity in plants. Germplasm banks -- living seed collections that serve as repositories of genetic variation -- have been ...established as a source of genes for improving agricultural crops. Genetic linkage maps have made it possible to study the chromosomal locations of genes for improving yield and other complex traits important to agriculture. The tools of genome research may finally unleash the genetic potential of our wild and cultivated germplasm resources for the benefit of society.
