2.5.1.a Conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture | SDG Indicators Data Portal | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Indicator 2.5.1.a - Number of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in medium or long term conservation facilities

The conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in medium or long term conservation facilities (ex situ in genebanks) represents the most trusted means of conserving genetic resources worldwide. This indicator will measure progress towards Target 2.5.

Target 2.5

By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.

Indicator 2.5.1a: Progress Assessment

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Impact

The measure of trends in ex situ conserved materials provides an overall assessment of the extent to which we are managing to maintain and/or increase the total genetic diversity available for future use and thus protect it from any permanent loss of genetic diversity which may occur on-farm and in the natural habitat.

This information is key to support the livelihood of the world's population with sufficient, diverse and nutritious diets long into the future.

Key results

The global response to the growing threat of climate change needs to be accelerated to adequately preserve crop and crop-associated diversity.

The number of accessions of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture conserved ex situ under medium- or long-term conditions increased by 1.1 percent year-on-year in 2021. This is equal to about one-third of the average annual growth rate of germplasm accessions over the past 26 years. After the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, genebanks’ operations (including the collection and acquisition of new germplasm) have gradually returned to normality, and the trend of a continued increase in the number of global germplasm holdings resumed after the lull observed in 2020. The newly added materials to the ex situ collections were mainly landrace and farmers’ varieties (34 percent), research materials (16 percent) and wild samples (14 percent).

As of December 2021, 321 gene banks around the world conserved 86 250 samples from over 1 815 species listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories of global major concern. Among these are underutilized crops and wild relatives of crops that are particularly important for global and local food security and livelihoods, especially in marginal environments such as arid and semi-arid zones. These species include upland cotton, coffee, plums and mat beans, and wild relatives of maize, wheat, oats, cowpea, lupines, apricots and apples.