ARS Biocollections Portal The Biocollections Portal is a collaborative effort between several biological collections across the USDA-Agricultural Research Service to provide centralized management and virtual access to these mission-critical resources. Search records from the U.S. National Arboretum Herbarium (NA), U.S. National Seed Herbarium (BARC), and more.
CGIAR Genebank Platform The Genebank Platform supports the core activities of the CGIAR genebanks: conserving and making available crop and tree diversity. It ensures that the genebanks meet international standards, improve efficiency and ensure more effective use within an enabling policy environment. More specific features of this site include:
Crop Trust The Crop Trust was initially founded in 2004 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and Bioversity International on behalf of the CGIAR. It provides:
- Financial support for the key international genebanks that make the diversity of our most important food crops available to all under the International Treaty.
- Tools and support for the efficient management of genebanks.
- Coordination between conserving institutions to ensure that all crop diversity is protected, accessible and used.
- Final backup of crop seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) BOLD is a 10-year project launched in 2021, funded by the government of Norway, and led by the Crop Trust. BOLD evolved from the previous Crop Wild Relatives Project and has the mission of strengthening global food security through support for conserving and using crop genetic diversity. Special attention is directed to challenges due to climate change.
Genebank Academy The Genebank Academy is the Crop Trust’s online platform dedicated to strengthening global capacity in genebank operations, management, and plant genetic resource conservation. They provide access to high-quality training to professionals, students, and researchers around the world who are working to safeguard crop diversity for future generations.
DIVSEEK International Network DivSeek International is a community driven not-for-profit organization consisting of a diverse set of member organizations that have voluntarily come together to unlock the potential of crop diversity so that it can be utilized to enhance the productivity, sustainability and resilience of crops and agricultural systems. This site contains open-source tools, webinars and other resources to support groups and aid in their collaborations.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Their goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. Two resources of most interest to plant germplasm are:
Training Materials This page links to educational and training materials on the International Treaty. It facilitates the dissemination of resources for trainers, students, self-learners and other interested individuals and institutions alike. The main audiences of these training resources include stakeholder groups of the International Treaty such as policy makers and their staff, civil servants, gene bank staff, plant breeders, farmers’ organizations and other civil society organizations, as well as the media and academia.
Global Farmer Field School Platform A Farmer Field School (FFS) brings together a group of farmers, livestock herders or fisherfolk, to learn on how to shift towards more sustainable production practices, by better understanding complex agro-ecosystems and by enhancing ecosystem services. A FFS group meets regularly during a production cycle, setting up experimentation and engaging in hands-on learning to improve skills and knowledge that will help adapt practices to their specific context. The FFS empowers individuals and groups to move towards more sustainable practices and improve livelihoods.
Genesys PGR Genesys is an online platform where you can find information about Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture conserved in genebanks worldwide. This searchable database pulls from dozens of datasets from partners across the globe, ensuring the broadest possible access to invaluable accession information.
GRIN Taxonomy This searchable system provides up-to-date classification and nomenclature for economically important plants, federal- and state-regulated noxious weeds, and federally and internationally listed threatened and endangered plants. The scientific names are verified, in accordance with the international rules of botanical nomenclature, by taxonomists of the National Germplasm Resources Laboratory using available taxonomic literature and consultations with taxonomic specialists.
Millennium Seed Bank Partnership The MSBP is the largest ex situ plant conservation program in the world. Working with partners from over 100 countries and territories, they have conserved over 40,000 of the world’s wild plant species at the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst.
Kew and MSBP offer a variety of continuing professional development courses for plant scientists. View their course offering online.
National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation: Fort Collins, CO This facility within the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service serves as the base collection for the National Plant Germplasm System. Research focuses on acquiring, evaluating, preserving, and distributing critical genetic resources including plant, animal, insect, and microbial material for industry and the research community. The website has links to publications, research projects and people related to plant germplasm resources.
Scholarly Articles of Interest
Byrne PF, Volk GM, Gardner C, Gore MA, Simon PW, Smith S. 2018. Sustaining the future of plant breeding: The critical role of the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System. Crop Science 58:451–468. DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2017.05.0303
Volk GM, Carver D, Irish BM, Marek L, Frances A, Greene S, Khoury CK, Bamberg J, del Rio A, Warburton ML, Bretting PK. 2023. Safeguarding plant genetic resources in the United States during global climate change. Crop Science 63:2274–2296. DOI: 10.1002/csc2.21003
Volk GM, Byrne PF, Coyne CJ, Flint-Garcia S, Reeves PA, Richards C. 2021. Integrating genomic and phenomic approaches to support plant genetic resources conservation and use. Plants 10:2260. DOI: 10.3390/plants10112260