S02 - Session O3 - Keynote: The role of horticultural genetic diversity conservation and use in the context of global food systems Keynote:
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Authors: Paula Bramel *
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Authors: Paula Bramel *
Horticultural crop diversity encapsulates a very wide range of crops that include fruits, vegetables, condiments, flavorings, ornamentals, plantation, and medicinal crops. These crops have important local household uses, a strong cultural history, and significantly contribute to global food, nutritional, and economic security. Ex situ conservation of the genetic resources is complex in these crops with their differing breeding behavior, seed storability, and local adaptation that has influenced the conservation and use of many of these crops currently. The Crop Trust has worked with crop communities of coffee, tea, apples, vanilla, strawberry, cucurbits, citrus, eggplant, pea, brassicas, and peppers to develop global strategies for the conservation and use of the genetic resources. Thus, the objective is to synthesize some of the key outcomes of the strategies in terms of the key current constraints as well as priority opportunities that have been identified for long term conservation and use of ex situ collections. Overall, the strategies for the various crops described a current ex situ conservation system that is not rational, efficient, sustainable, or secure for the long term. Some of the key global constraints identified was the lack of linkage between conservers and well as users; limited knowledge on the composition and use of the accessions; gaps globally in the collections but also redundancies across collections; and significant constraints to exchange that has also hampered ensuring secure conservation. There are many threats to conservation ex situ and in farmers’ fields that could be addressed more effectively through a global conservation system that links to use in securing the future of the global food system. Some of the priority opportunities from a global system is greater accession level information sharing that will enhance use, collective research on conservation constraints, development of standard operating procedures for routine operations, and securing long term conservation.