In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge

Abstract

The efficient conservation and judicious use of plant genetic resources and related traditional knowledge is vital for food, health, and nutritional security. Plant genetic diversity available in gene banks, in the wild, and in farmer’s fields is crucial resource for food, health, and nutritional security, augmenting livelihoods and environmental services. These resources could support acclimatization of primary food crops to climate change impacts. In pursuit of improved cereal, pulse, horticultural, medicinal, aromatic, and other cash crop varieties suitable for particular agroecosystem, availability of a diversity of alleles/genes in terms of yield, quality, resistance against disease and pest, and tolerance for drought, heat, salt, and water in the wild relatives, indigenous, local land races, and farmer cultivars is the prime prerequisite, which limits the options for sustainable resilient agriculture management. To prevent their genetic erosion, a well-devised strong linkage between in situ resource conservation, collection and ex situ conservation in gene banks and their utilization for genetic improvement through research and breeding is required for their subsequent availability to farmer, pharmaceutical and seed community. Conserving plant genetic resources in situ as well as ex situ ensures efficient explorations in order to implement the International Treaty and Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. These collections are valuable genetic resource of resistance to diseases and pests, tolerance to climatic stresses, and improved targeted “trait” through crop improvement and assurance against genetic erosion. It is important to support in situ/on-farm conservation of agroecosystems because ex situ conservation cannot replicate the evolutionary processes and cultural practices but can act as crucial reservoir to safeguard them from calamities.