|
 Promotion of
sustainable use of
plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) was
urged by the contracting parties of the
International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
(IT).
Recognising the
special nature of PGRFA, the contracting parties were concerned
about the continuing erosion of these resources. Article 6 of
the IT includes a range of suggestions as to how PGRFA can be
used in a sustainable way through strengthening research and
plant breeding to meet the needs for increased food production
and improved rural livelihoods.
Plant breeding
is a long term venture and its successes build up slowly and
cumulatively. It cannot operate successfully on a stop-go basis
and therefore a break in continuity of effort will have negative
consequences in the future. The current situation regarding
public sector investment in agricultural research, particularly
in plant breeding, is that it is rapidly losing ground on a
global basis to private investment.
An assessment of
the current status,of national plant breeding programmes should
be the starting point for considering the strengthening and
sustainable use of PGRFA on a global basis. To this end, FAO has
been carrying out a survey to assess plant breeding and related
biotechnology capacity around the world with the objective of
designing strategies to strengthen the ability to use PGRFA.
The data
collected through this survey has allowed country profiles to be
prepared with information to policy-makers on options to
strengthen national capacity to use PGRFA. All country profiles
start by flagging the need for a holistic view considering
conservation, use and seed systems as integral parts of any
capacity-strengthening strategy. The survey data show that,
although plant breeding capacity exists, in most of the
countries analysed it is below the minimum required level. The
survey does not ask for information related to seed systems
capacity but indirectly, by looking at the number of varieties
released and knowing the number planted by farmers, we can
easily see that either the varieties are not meeting farmers’
requirement or the seed systems have not been able to deliver
the products of the breeding programmes. This aspect stresses
the need for a holistic strategy looking at the farmer’s demand,
the breeder's product and the seed deliver systems.
 A
key element of the strategy to strengthen national plant
breeding and related biotechnology capacity is sustainability.
As mentioned before, plant breeding is a long term activity and
needs long term support. Thus, design of the breeding strategy
to achieve this goal needs to consider the linkage with seed
systems. One of the most viable mechanisms to achieve
sustainability is through the financial recognition of the plant
breeding work. In countries where there is legislation in place
promoting private sector and/or public-private sector
partnerships, investments in the seed business flourish and help
to support breeding activities. The development of varieties
that meet farmers’ demands, which are associated to seed
producers who see business opportunities, and consequently are
willing to support those activities, allow sustainability to be
achieved. The same is true when linking plant breeding with seed
production in farmers’ communities in developing countries
around the world. Small and community-based seed production
systems associated to local level plant breeding activities must
be seen as important components of strategies to strengthen
national plant breeding capacity.
Related web sources
-
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA)
-
The State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture (full PDF format version, 510 pages)
-
The report on the State of the World PGRFA (short PDF format
version, 75 pages) (Français)
(Español)
Elcio Guimarães
can be reached at
Elcio.Guimaraes@fao.org |
