The Conservation of Global Crop Genetic Resources in the Face of Climate Change. Summary Statement from a Bellagio Meeting held on September 3-7, 2007
Abstract
In September 2007, a group of experts from the genetic conservation,
climate science, agricultural development, and plant genetics and
breeding communities met at the Rockefeller Foundation Conference Center
in Bellagio, Italy, to initiate a discussion about the management of
global crop genetic resources in the face of climate change. The
underlying focus was on global food security - defined here as the
ability of all people at all times to have access to sufficient diets
for a healthy and productive life. Much of the discussion therefore
centered on malnourished populations, the majority of whom depend to
some extent on agriculture for their livelihoods. In particular,
attention was directed toward two key regions of food insecurity:
a) South Asia, where the largest number of chronically hungry people
live despite impressive technological gains in agriculture during the
past 40 years and widespread use of irrigation in some areas; and
b) the African continent, where the incidence of hunger is greatest and
where rainfed systems account for over 90% of crop production.
This document is divided into two sections:
a) a brief summary of the material presented at the meeting on climate
projections, potential climate impacts on existing agricultural systems,
and seed collections and evaluation; and
b) the collective views on priorities and actions needed to conserve
crop genetic resources into the long-run future and to evaluate these
resources for use in breeding. The main target audience is the Global
Crop Diversity Trust, whose mission is to ensure the conservation and
availability of global crop diversity in perpetuity in gene banks
throughout the world, including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norway).
Citation
20 pp.
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