PERSPECTIVES ON THE AVAILABILITY AND USE OF PLANT GENETIC-RESOURCES

Very substantial collections of plant genetic resources have been deve loped over the last 50 years and current estimates are that over 6 mil lion accessions ave conserved ex situ. Following the adoption of the G lobal Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture by over 150 countr ies in 1996 if is timely to review current developments and issues in the availability and use of this significant resource. Availability de pends On the physical status Of the stored accessions, the information that exists on them and on the existence Of an international framewor k for distribution and exchange of material between genebanks and user s in different countries. Use can lake many forms including direct use by farmers and cultivators, introduction into plant breeding and germ plasm enhancement programmes, evaluation and use in research. Improvin g both availability and use requires sustained programmes of internati onal collaboration which have always been a feature of work on the con servation of plant genetic resources. The importance of developing and maintaining functional national and international networks should be recognized. Developments in the use of molecular techniques and inform ation technology are making substantial contributions to germplasm con servation and use and both areas are likely to play an even greater ro le in the future.