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Global Plan of Action 94.
Assessment: As accessions in ex situ storage
decline in viability, both genes and genotypes are lost. Even
under optimal ex situ storage conditions, all accessions eventually
require regeneration. Capacity
for regenerating was often not considered when assembling
collections and disseminating accessions, with the unintended
consequence that much material collected in the past cannot
now be properly maintained. Consequently,
a large backlog of materials requiring regeneration exists
today. An
average of 50 percent of current national collections are
in need of regenerating, according to substantial but incomplete
data provided in Country Reports. Good
planning and coordination will minimize the amount of material
to be regenerated. But,
without prompt and significant intervention, much of the stored
genetic diversity of food and agricultural crops in the world
- as well as the large public investment made in assembling
the collections - will be lost forever. 95.
Low initial sample size and low viability as well as frequent
demand for samples from longterm facilities can shorten the
regeneration cycle. But,
because proper longterm storage conditions should obviate
the need for regeneration for decades, one might expect average,
routine, ongoing annual regeneration requirements (as opposed
to multiplication needs) to amount to fewer than 10 percent
of accessions so conserved. However,
some 95 percent of countries responding with specific information
on regeneration report a far higher level of need, and most
countries, both developed and developing, report technical,
financial or other constraints to regenerating their material.
Perhaps
one million accessions may need to be regenerated to conserve
the material in ex situ programmes. No
global coordinating mechanism exists. Lack
of information on accessions constitutes an additional constraint
impeding rational regeneration. Most
developing and many developed countries cite lack of longterm
storage facilities, lack of facilities for handling crosspollinated
species, and inadequate funds and manpower, as major problems
to overcome. 96.
Longterm objectives: To establish the infrastructure
needed for periodic regeneration. 97.
Intermediate objectives: To formulate a strategy,
establish coordinating mechanisms, identify locations for
regeneration, complete agreements needed to formalize cooperation
among institutions, improve capacity and infrastructure as
needed, and initiate action to regenerate targeted accessions.
To
complete the first worldwide regeneration of accessions in
ex situ storage, under conditions designed to preserve the
genetic integrity of material. 98.
Policy/strategy: Priority should be given to: (Proper
management will assure that accessions in longterm conditions
will be regenerated mainly due to loss of viability and those
in active collections multiplied due to loss of numbers.) 99.
Input from crop and regional networks should be sought in
the refining of priorities and identification of appropriate
germplasm for regeneration. 100.
Identification of specific samples should be made in cooperation
with national programme breeders and curators, who often have
intimate and detailed knowledge of collections and of the
possible availability of similar materials from in situ locations.
101.
As appropriate and feasible, regeneration efforts should strive
to maintain the allelic and genotypic diversity and adapted
complexes of the original sample. 102.
Efforts should be encouraged to reduce unneeded redundancies
within and between collections as a means of improving efficiency
and minimizing ongoing conservation costs. Regeneration
should not be viewed as a means of maintaining collections
in substandard conditions on a longterm basis. In
this regard, it is noted that minimizing the frequency of
regeneration is an important goal and consequence of other
activities under the Global Plan of Action. 103.
Governments, the private sector, institutions, including in
particular the CGIAR, and NGOs should: 104.
Characterization activities should be undertaken in conjunction
with regeneration, as feasible, without compromising the effectiveness
or scientific goals of the regeneration exercise. 105.
Capacity: As appropriate and cost efficient,
proper facilities, human resources, appropriate technology,
and equipment should be made available to national programmes
and international institutions involved in regeneration activities
undertaken as part of the Global Plan. Particular
attention should be given to establishing or strengthening
capacity for the regeneration of crosspollinated species.
Consideration
should be given to involving the private sector, farmers,
and NGOs in this activity. 106.
Genebanks should ensure monitoring and have the capacity for
determining the status of their accessions and prioritizing
those in need of regeneration. 107.
Training programmes should take into consideration the need
for personnel trained in the execution of the procedures of
germplasm regeneration and in the unique regeneration requirements
of specific species. 108.
Research/technology: Guidelines for regeneration,
and as appropriate, standards and specific technologies should
continue to be developed. Guidelines
should, inter alia, provide guidance on how accessions are
chosen for regeneration. They
should take planning and management into account as well as
applicability to different institutional situations and collection
purposes. 109.
Scientific methodologies for identifying and prioritizing
choices of accessions to be regenerated through national as
well as global efforts should be further developed. 110.
There is a need to reinforce research to improve conservation
technologies in various fields: lengthening of the interval
between two regeneration cycles (orthodox seeds), physiological
mechanisms linked to low temperature tolerance and dehydration
(recalcitrant seeds), and in vitro conservation technologies.
111.
Research should be undertaken to increase the effectiveness
and efficiency of regeneration efforts, including methodologies
for minimizing genetic drifts, the identification of markers
associated with seed longevity to assist in devising regeneration
strategies, to develop an understanding of the causes of mutations
in conserved germplasm, to eliminate seed borne pests, and
to answer various questions regarding breeding systems, reproductive
biology, and dormancy mechanisms and technical problems associated
with regeneration practices. 112.
Data on existing accessions in ex situ collections should
be assembled and analysed in order to assist in planning and
implementation. 113.
Coordination/administration: An operational
plan for a coordinated, global regeneration effort should
be developed, and implemented by the appropriate agency or
agencies. It
should include identification of institutions and locations
for regeneration, be based on sound scientific practices,
and consider the need for cost efficiency. The
active involvement of crop and regional networks is important
to the success of regeneration efforts, particularly in the
identification and prioritization of germplasm to be regenerated.
Similarly,
national plans for regeneration should be formulated particularly
in regard to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture
of purely national importance. 114.
There should be ongoing monitoring of the need for regeneration,
including consideration of the necessity of adequate duplication,
storage behaviour of the species, storage conditions, and
individual accession viability. 115.
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