Vavilov's centres of diversity and the conservation of genetic resources
1990
WILLIAMS, J.T.
Attention is drawn to Vavilov's agro-ecotype concept of cultivated plant adaptation, and genotype/environment interactions in crops. Vavilov developed an ecological classification of cultivated plants and stressed the need for national and international evaluation of collections and breeding lines, based on materials collected in areas of great genetic diversity. A discussion of Vavilov's centres of diversity highlights the importance of land races and wild crop relatives to breeders in Vavilov's day, and even more so at present. This is followed by a brief description of the work of the International Board of Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) in relation to Vavilov's philosophy, in its efforts to conserve the genetic diversity of crops and especially old land races, which have developed resistances to diseases and pests, and adaptation to a wide range of environmental conditions. Related wild species are also of great importance here, and one of IBPGR's tasks is to see that all these materials are evaluated with a view to building useful characters into new and better crop varieties.
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