On-farm Conservation–Initiatives by NBPGR in the Western Himalayan Region

Abstract

Large number of plant genetic resources have been
collected and conserved ex situ in the gene banks, the
world over. These genetic resources have been effectively
used for breeding new crop varieties and enhancing food
production. While doing so, the very important form
of conservation in situ (on-farm), which has resulted
into large ex situ collections, received less attention and
lots of valuable materials were lost from farmer’s field.
On-farm conservation has been recognized as a
participatory and dynamic approach involving farmers
and their long established skills and knowledge on genetic
resources. Being dynamic,