M. Hulden et al., THE NORDIC COMMITMENT - REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION ON PLANT GENETIC-RESOURCES, Plant varieties & seeds, 11(1), 1998, pp. 1-13
In 1979, when the Nordic Genebank was founded time was running short a
nd Nordic germplasm of agricultural and horticultural crops was disapp
earing mi an accelerating rate. Today the ex situ collection includes
about 30,000 seed accessions, consisting of local and modern varieties
, landraces, collected material and genetic stocks. Through its region
al networks the Nordic Genebank co-ordinates all activities concerning
conservation, use and information of genetic resources in the Nordic
countries, thereby providing support to the research and breeding comm
unity. The international engagement of the genebank is both at the Eur
opean (European Go-operative Programme on Crop Genetic Resources Netwo
rks, the Baltic slates) and the international level (FAO, Southern Afr
ica). Routine laboratory techniques include in vitro cultivation of ve
getatively propagated species while contemporary methods are increasin
gly gaining importance in the work of characterising genetic variabili
ty. The Nordic Genebank is committed to continue its endeavour of cons
erving and providing plant genetic resources for the sake of World foo
d production and sustainable use of wild habitats.