In situ and on-farm management of plant genetic resources

For establishing an effective maintaining programme for plant genetic resources (PGR), an integrated system is necessary considering the three principal ways of germplasm management—ex situ, in situ and on-farm. The scientific concept for on-farm conservation is relatively new and desires a special discussion. Differences in conservation and management strategies are defined here with respect to three countries. Germany is used as an example for an industrialized country, relatively poor in landraces. Italy may suit as example for an industrialized country with high diversity in agricultural products and production techniques, and Cuba is an example for a tropical country, scarcely industrialized and extremely rich in PGR. The following categories of countries are defined here: (a) Category 1: country e.g. Cuba; (b) Category 2: country e.g. Italy; (c) Category 3: country e.g. Germany. The definition of specific categories with respect to the different situations of these countries is extremely helpful in valuation of ex situ, in situ and on-farm measures regarding their effectiveness and necessary finances in the context of realization of the requests of the Convention on Biological Diversity to protect the diversity in countries and regions. First of all, management of germplasm including breeding and selection in the hands of the farmers has to be secured. On-farm management is a dynamic approach and the present expectations to this are high and tend to overload this concept. More realistic is an integrated approach considering the respective country and local conditions including farmers’ preferences and application of all conservation systems.