New release of three Practical guides for the application of the Genebank Standards for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

FAO has just released three Practical guides for the application of the Genebank Standards for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture:

Conservation of orthodox seeds in seed genebanks
Conservation in field genebanks
Conservation via in vitro culture

At its Seventeenth Regular Session, the Commission requested FAO to prepare practical guides for the use of the Genebank Standards for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture whose purpose is to present the information contained in the Genebank Standards in a more user-friendly format detailing the different actions of the genebank workflow in a sequential manner and thereby facilitating more widespread application of the Genebank Standards. The three practical guides that have been published are therefore to be used as a companion volume to the Genebank Standards for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The action steps of the genebank workflow are presented in a sequential manner and provide guidance on the complex steps and decisions required when operating a seed genebank, field genebank, or an in vitro genebank. The accompanying summary charts for the respective action steps underscore the intended use of each practical guide as a handbook for routine genebank operations.

While these practical guides are particularly useful for genebank technicians for their day-to day activities, each one may also be used as a basis for the development of standard operating procedures and quality management systems. Genebank managers will also find them useful for conducting training exercises.