A survey was carried out among maize and soybean plant breeders from p
ublic and private institutions to evaluate the use of germplasm collec
tions and to identify the sources of variability that are being used i
nbreeding programs. Germplasm banks are regularly used by soybean bree
ders. However, they have been little used by maize breeders. The amoun
t of information concerning available accessions in germplasm banks wa
s considered 70% insufficient for maize and 30% for soybean. The main
sources of genetic variability have been the breeder's own work collec
tion and breeder-to-breeder germplasm exchange. It was observed that a
gronomically adapted breeding materials show wide enough variability t
o assure continuous progress through selection.