14. Indian National Plant Genetic Resources System - An Overview - R.S. Rana and R.K. Arora

Introduction
Brief history
NBGPR and its activities
Indian Plant Genetic Resources System (IN-PGRS)
Partnership in PGR conservation and management
Recent developments
In retrospect
Summary
References
Appendix I. Indian Plant Genetic Resources System. Directory of National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS).

Introduction

Plant genetic resources (PGR) are the basic materials that are essential for development of improved crop varieties designed to combine high yield potential with superior quality, resistance to diseases and pests, and also better adaptation. to abiotic stress environments. Their continued availability to plant breeders is necessary not only for sustaining advances in crop productivity but also for stabilising production in the country. These resources of known or potential use to man constitute a broad spectrum of diverse genepools representing assemblage of landraces, primitive cultivars, varieties of traditional agriculture as well as wild and weedy relatives of crop plants. In the last two decades or so, much attention has been drawn to indigenous locally adapted cultivars in particular because of the useful genetic variation they contain as an invaluable resource for present and future plant breeding, and the rapid rate at which they are disappearing through replacement by high yielding varieties. In addition, the natural habitats of wild relatives of crop plants are continuously getting eroded threatening survival of these populations. This diversity is not yet adequately represented in the existing collections at national, regional and international levels. Indian national programme on genetic conservation aims at exploring and collecting, classifying, evaluating, conserving and documenting this natural heritage for its current and future use. All these operations constitute a chain of activities that are now better understood and carried out by the national and international centres mandated with such responsibilities. The last thirty years have seen the great upsurge of this activity, with more awareness generated by the FAO, IBPGR, the IARCs and also by the IUCN, UNESCO and the WWF in their concern for conservation of biodiversity with particular reference to in-situ aspects. Equally important in this context has been the phenomenal growth in biotechnology during the past two decades which has also created new awareness about the value of plant genetic resources since sexual process of fertilisation and recombination was no longer a pre-requisite to shuffling of desirable traits.

A broad outline of plant genetic resources' activities has already been presented in the first chapter as an introductory part. In the following chapter, importance of geographical areas of diversity of crop plants and the richness of this genetic wealth in the Indian subcontinent has been reflected. Subsequent chapters deal largely with the methodologies and approaches that are followed in executing PGR activities, viz. germplasm collection, introduction, exchange and quarantine, characterization and evaluation, maintenance, documentation, conservation and utilisation. In this chapter, the work carried out by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), the national nodal organisation for such activities, and its coordinating role in the management and monitoring of these activities has been highlighted with a view to focussing attention on the newly emerging Indian National Plant Genetic Resources System.

Brief history

Indian interest and abiding concern in the collection and utilisation of plant genetic resources dates back to the early decades of this century (Howard and Howard, 1910), though botanical accounts on available flora and the economic plants/products had been documented much earlier (Hooker, 1872-97; Watt, 1889-93). However, it was late Dr. B.P. Pal who truly focussed attention on the use of germplasm variability in crop improvement in national context. The publication of his paper, The search for new genes', in fact, paved the way for augmenting genetic diversity for use in plant breeding (Pal, 1937; Pal and Singh, 1943). It was primarily due to his foresight and wisdom that a nucleus Plant Exploration and Collection Unit was established in 1946 in the Division of Botany at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. This unit became a regular wing in 1956 that was raised to the status of a Division of Plant Introduction in 1961. The late Dr. Harbhajan Singh dedicated his entire services to operate and boost these activities from the beginning and particularly so during the 1960s-1970s. (Singh and Hardas, 1970; Singh, 1973). Dr. M.S. Swaminathan and Dr. A.B. Joshi further strengthened the foundations of these activities. To serve the needs of the ICAR crop research institutes, all India coordinated crop improvement projects and state agricultural universities, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research created a separate organisation named as National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in 1976 alongwith two other Bureaus concerned with animal and fish genetic resources.

NBGPR and its activities

Prioritizing PGR activities

NBPGR's activities have grown rapidly since 1976. It is a service-oriented national institute with a component of basic research for improving quality and efficiency of its services. It has five major Divisions, namely, Division of Plant Exploration and Collection, Division of Germplasm Exchange, Division of Plant Quarantine, Division of Germplasm Evaluation and Division of Germplasm Conservation. In addition, there is a DBT funded National Facility for Plant Tissue Culture Repository. The Bureau also has 12 Regional Stations/Base Centres/Quarantine Stations/Experimental Farms located in different agro-climatic zones (Fig. 1). In addition, three all India coordinated crop improvement projects on medicinal and aromatic plants, cluster bean, and under-utilised and under-exploited plants are also located at the Bureau. Primary objectives of the Bureau are to:

1. Organise and conduct plant exploration and germplasm collection activities in India and abroad.

2. Undertake and coordinate the supply/introduction/exchange of plant genetic resources for research purpose within India and abroad.

3. Conduct plant quarantine examination of plant materials introduced by the Bureau for pests and pathogens; treat and salvage infested/infected material and carry out research on plant quarantine/seed-health problems.

4. Conduct, monitor and coordinate all activities concerning germplasm conservation in national base and active collections.

5. Characterize, evaluate and document available germplasm collections and coordinate these activities at the Regional Stations and other collaborating Institutes with a view to preparing proper inventories and catalogues of such resources.

6. Develop and operate the National PGR Database for documentation and retrieval of information on plant genetic resources held by the Bureau and all other collaborating institutes/centres.

7. Conduct training programmes on different aspects of genetic resources activities at national and international levels.

8. Develop and implement work-plans concerning PGR activities based on memoranda of understanding under bilateral and international agreements.

In order to fulfil its national mandate, the Bureau maintains links with all crop-based institutes/national research centres of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, State Agricultural Universities and the network of All India Co-ordinated Crop Improvement Projects. In addition, the Bureau maintains effective links with more than seventy countries as well as different crop-based international institutes under the CGIAR system including, the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR).

The Exploration Division develops advance perspective plans for germplasm collection in collaboration with other cooperating institutes/centres. More than 80,000 accessions of indigenous cultivars and their wild relatives have already been collected through over 300 crop-specific and region-specific explorations (Table 1). These represent wide variability in crops like wheat, maize, rice, minor millets, cucurbits, okra, eggplant, tuber crops, jute, cotton, ginger, sugarcane, mango, banana, jujube, citrus, black pepper, turmeric, medicinal plants and forages, besides many others. The areas already explored include the North-eastern region, North-Western Himalayas, drier western plains, central India and the eastern and western peninsular tracts. Indigenous collections have been further enriched by importing over 9,00,000 samples from more than 70 countries through specific requests and exchange (Table 2). Diverse germplasm has thus been introduced from different international crop-based institutes/centres like IRRI, Philippines; CIMMYT, Mexico; ICARDA, Syria; CIP, Peru; CSIRO, Australia; VIR, USSR; USDA, USA; AVRDC, Taiwan; INTSOY, USA; ICRISAT, India, besides, the FAO and IBPGR.

Table 1. Germplasm collecting activities at NBPGR

Year	No. of explorations undertaken	No. of germplasm samples collected
		Cultivated	Wild	Total
1976	4	1,987	138	2,125
1977	6	5,099	24	5,123
1978	7	938	11	949
1979	11	4,256	54	4,310
1980	7	4,559	22	4,581
1981	16	6,031	271	6,302
1982	9	3,575	-	3,575
1983	9	3,000	-	3,000
1984	10	3,525	-	3,525
1985	25	8,008	55	8,063
1986	43	8,391	97	8,488
1987	44	7,115	178	7,293
1988	52	7,646	154	7,800
1989	59	11,278	925	12,203
1990	42	5,071	751	5,822
Total	344	80,479	2680	83,159

Table 2. Exchange of plant germplasm

Year	No. of samples		National supply
	Import	Export
1976	85,872	70,551	3,284
1977	74,835	10,686	2,397
1978	1,17,279	8,697	2,059
1979	1,30,194	5,287	2,976
1980	51,906	1,917	6,558
1981	53,264	2,260	6,889
1982	42,663	1,748	5,681
1983	49,268	2,683	6,213
1984	38,992	3,843	3,701
1985	85,117	1,355	5,867
1986	52,767	5,535	12,726
1987	52,642	2,260	10,578
1988	53,629	2,168	11,828
1989	50,536	3,310	17,250
1990	49,521	1,195	12,680
Total	9,88485	1,23,495	1,10,687

Plant quarantine facility at the Bureau has helped in ensuring that insect pests, pathogens and obnoxious weeds do not enter the country alongwith seed and other propagating materials. Well equipped laboratories of Plant Pathology, Virology, Nematology and Entomology work hand-in-hand to salvage the infected/infested materials using techniques, such as mechanical cleaning, washing, fumigation, X-ray radiography, hot water treatment, acid seed treatment, pesticidal seed treatment, dips and sprays, etc. A large number of important exotic plant pests, nematodes and pathogens have been intercepted. Some of these have been reported for the first time in India (see Chapter 5). A recent case is that of the groundnut stripe virus intercepted by the Hyderabad Station of NBPGR in collaboration with ICRISAT.

The Seed Repository of the National Gene Bank at NBPGR Headquarters, New Delhi, conserves genetic resources of orthodox (desiccation-tolerant) agri-horticultural crop plants in the form of seed under controlled conditions of temperature and seed moisture. Two types of cold storage vaults are available: (i) medium-term storage facility kept at + 4° C and 35 percent RH, and (ii) long-term storage vaults (2 units of 100 m² each and 2 of 176 m² each) maintained at-20° C. The repository has a fully equipped seed testing laboratory and other ancillary facilities. Over 1,35,000 accessions of various crop plants are currently stored in the repository (Table 3) and its present storage capacity is about two lakh (0.2 million) accessions. Protocols have also been developed for making the plant germplasm collections disease-free through tissue culture techniques and ensuring their safety under in-vitro storage. Work has been in progress on crops, such as yams, Coleus, ginger, Musa and citrus. Experimental work has also progressed for storing seeds at -196°C in cryopreservation tanks using liquid nitrogen (see Chapter 10).

Table 3. National gene bank in operation at NBPGR (germplasm kept in long-term storage in seed repository maintained at -20° C (as on 31 December 1990)

Crop groups	No. of accessions
Cereals	34,697
Pulses	21,510
Millets and minor millets	12,850
Oilseeds	12,621
Vegetables	3,635
Fibre crops	2,609
Narcotics	665
Medicinal and aromatic plants	138
Pseudocereals (miscellaneous crops)	653
Improved (named) varieties	302
Voucher specimens of exotics	19,178
Reference samples of indigenous collection	27,000
Total holdings	1,35,858

Over 80,000 accessions of different agri-horticultural crops are also being studied in active collections grown at the Bureau's Issapur Farm and its Regional Stations. Evaluation of introduced and indigenous germplasm collections at the Bureau's Headquarters and Regional Stations over the years has resulted in the selection and release of several promising varieties. Some of these are 'Annapurna' in amaranth; 'La Bonita' and 'Dwarf Money Maker' in tomato; 'Selection-2', 'Selection 6-1' and 'G-2' in okra; 'Aseem', 'Rituraj', 'Red seeded Sel. 1' in cowpea; 'Sona', 'Suvidha', 'Sharadbahar' and 'Naveen' in guar; 'Sabarmati' in mung bean; 'Allison' in Chinese gooseberry; 'Mahan' in pecan; 'Gola', 'Seb', 'Mundia' in ber; Trishna' in opium poppy; 'Hybrid-7' and 'Hybrid-9' in vetiver; 'Arizona-2' in guayule and 'EC 33198' in jojoba. Details of the primary and secondary introductions and other selections based on indigenous collections have been published earlier (Paroda and Arora, 1986) and are also dealt with separately in this book (see Chapter 4). A large number of catalogues and inventories (over 40) have been brought out listing the available germplasm collections with their characteristics for use of the breeders, viz. on wheat, barley, amaranth, tomato, cluster bean, French bean, winged bean, cowpea, field pea, moth bean, soybean, lentil, Sesbania, Trigonella, opium poppy, safflower, sunflower, sesame, okra, oats and maize.

The Bureau is also the lead institute to impart training in all facets of PGR activities. It has organised international/regional training programmes for the South and South-East Asia region with IBPGR support. It has also conducted regular short duration trainings at the national level and a Summer Institute sponsored by ICAR. This activity has been further accelerated now (from 1990) with national training programmes conducted by NBPGR in plant exploration and collection, tissue culture and cryopreservation techniques, medium and long-term storage of seed materials, exchange of germplasm and plant quarantine methods, and computer appreciation related to PGR documentation. The emphasis is on training of the concerned PGR scientists from ICAR crop institutes and other interested research centres in public institutions and universities with a view to producing more resource personnel in this field. The NBPGR is also the information dissemination organisation on PGR activities. It regularly publishes Research Highlights, Annual Reports, Newsletter (quarterly) and the Plant Introduction Reporter (quarterly). It has so far published well over 400 research papers, reports, brochures, bulletins, inventories, catalogues, books, proceedings of seminar/ symposia, etc. with bearing on conservation and scientific management of plant genetic resources. This has helped in creating awareness and knowhow among the scientific community as well as public and private organisations.

Prioritizing PGR activities

While all these activities and on-going programmes are important to Bureau's functioning, certain aspects need priority consideration (Paroda et al., 1988) to fulfil national needs. These are (Rana, 1990):

1. Upgrading of facilities for maintenance, evaluation, documentation and medium-term storage of national active collections of crop genetic resources at the Bureau's stations as well as at the collaborating institutes/centres.

2. Expanding the capacity of long-term storage of base collections from the existing 2,00,000 to nearly 8,00,000 seed samples.

3. Developing a computer-based National Database on Plant Genetic Resources for use by plant breeders and other researchers.

4. Setting up of Crop Advisory Committees and establishment of fully developed Indian National Plant Genetic Resources System.

5. Promoting development of suitable facilities at some selected sites for conduting post-entry quarantine inspection relevant to clearance of imported germplasm for research purpose.

6. Strengthening the National Herbarium of Cultivated Plants and developing the National Research Centre on Biosystematics and Evolutionary Studies.

7. Improving the quality of training programmes.

Indian Plant Genetic Resources System (IN-PGRS)

IN-PGRS is being developed with the Bureau as the nodal agency working in partnership with nearly 30 collaborating centres/institutes drawn from crop-based institutes, national research centres, all India coordinated crop improvement projects and state agricultural universities (Appendix I). Each of these centres is designated as the national active germplasm site for specific crop(s) and has been assigned the responsibility of maintaining, evaluating and supplying germplasm out of its collections to the users. The national active germplasm sites will also send seeds of their holdings to NBPGR for preservation in national base collection kept under long-term storage at - 20° C and also supply all relevant information on them for feeding the national database. Facilities for seed processing and storage for medium-term at around 5° C and 40 percent RH are being developed at the collaborating centres to facilitate manageable regeneration schedules of the germplasm holdings.

Crop Advisory Committees being set up for specific crops or a group of crops will play a major role in advising the Bureau regarding status of current holdings of different crops, possible shortcomings in storage and management systems as well as in identification of gaps regarding exploration and collection of indigenous genetic variability of native crops. These committees will also advise NBPGR on gaps in germplasm collections and areas to be explored, countries that need to be approached for promising introduction of new crops/ genetic variability to sustain our crop improvement programmes, descriptors to be followed, priorities for long-term storage, concern on duplicate holdings, core collections, status of active and base collections, and specific research and training needs.

Besides operating the network of active germplasm collections maintained at different collaborating centres in the country (Appendix I), the Bureau also collaborates with International Agricultural Research Centres like ICRISAT, ICARDA, IRRI, CIMMYT and IJO in exploration and collection of germplasm as well as evaluation and documentation of germplasm holdings and promising breeding materials. It also implements work plans developed under Memoranda of Understanding and bilateral agreements with different international organisations and countries. IBPGR's office for South and South-East Asia is located in the NBPGR Campus and there is an active collaboration based on biennial work plans. In addition to organising joint exploration and collection programmes in this region, the IBPGR is assisting the NBPGR in developing training programmes relevant to conservation and management of plant genetic resources developed primarily for the Asian region. Following a critical assessment of the facilities available at the NBPGR, the IBPGR has assigned to it the responsibility for global and regional base collection for more than a dozen crops (Table 4). An Indo-USAID Project on Plant Genetic Resources, with a budget provision of over 21 million dollars, is currently being implemented to increase NBPGR's capability at the national level and also to enhance its role at the international level (Rana, 1990).

Table 4. IBPGR-assigned responsibility to NBPGR for long-term conservation of crop germplasm

Crop	Scope of collection
Pigeonpea	Global
Safllower	Global
Sesame	Global
Black gram (Vigna mungo)	Global
Rice bean (V. umbellata)	Global
Okra	Global
Eggplant	Global
Amaranthus	Asian
Capsicum	Asian
Raphanus	Asian
Brassica juncea	Asian
Minor Indian millets	Indian

The ex-situ and in-vitro approaches to conservation of plant genetic resources, as outlined above, are being integrated with a strategy for in-situ conservation of wild relatives of crop plants in the form of gene sanctuaries and eco-system conservation (Table 5a and b). This phase will be undertaken in active collaboration with the Department of Environment and Forests that administers the relevant agencies like the Botanical Survey of India, the Forest Survey of India and the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.

Table 5 (a). Conservation and utilisation of India's heritage in plant wealth

Organisation	National mandate
National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources	Ex-situ conservation of crop genetic resources (National genebank comprising long-term seed storage, in-vitro repository and clonal field genebanks)
Department of Environment and Forests	In-situ conservation of wild flora including relatives of cultivated plants and forest resources as well as living collections of threatened and rare plant species

Table 5 (b). In-situ conservation in India

Bio-graphic region	Biosphere reserve	Area (Sq. km.)	States involved
Himalaya	Nanda Devi	1,560	Uttar Pradesh
Burma monsoon forests	Nokrek	80	Meghalaya
Bengalian Rain forest	Manas	2,837	Assam
Bengalian Rain forest	Sundarbans	9,630	West Bengal
Coromandel	Gulf of Mannar	555	Tamil Nadu
Malabar rain forest	Nilgiri	5,520	Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
A. & N. Islands	Great Nicobar	885	Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Partnership in PGR conservation and management

Many leading countries have well developed system for assemblage, enrichment, documentation and conservation of plant genetic resources. Several of them also have computerised databases working in the form of crop networks. International Agricultural Research Centres (ICARs) have also come up in a big way in recent years with respect to their mandate crops. The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) has contributed significantly to these efforts, particularly by offering expertise and training. USAID has been contributing funds to assist some promising national programmes in developing suitable facilities and trained manpower. Some Asian countries, such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand have also utilised Japanese assistance and expertise through JICA, - Japanese International Cooperation Agency (including establishment of pre-fabricated genebanks) for this purpose.

Conservation and sustainable management of plant genetic resources is a cooperative endeavour and requires active collaboration between NBPGR and the concerned national and international agencies. Although Indian National Plant Genetic Resources System has gained substantially from the system adopted by leading nations in this field yet it has not wholly adopted any of these models. We are painstakingly developing our own indigenous system taking full advantage of inherent assets of our ICAR system and incorporating suitable features evolved over a long period of time in developed countries like the USA. The main focus of our system is that conservation and management of PGR are related to their use through an effective collaboration between the NBPGR and user agencies. The real strength of our system emanates from the active partnership between NBPGR and nearly 30 institutes/centres that have been designated as National Active Germplasm Sites. These sites are located in crop-based institutes/ National Research Centres, All India Coordinated Crop Improvement Projects and State Agricultural Universities (Fig 2). A large number of valuable collections from CRRI, Cuttack; CICR, Nagpur; CPRI, Shimla; CTRI, Rajamundry; NRCG, Junagadh, have already been received by NBPGR and kept in long-term storage. An all-out effort is on to ensure that all germplasm holdings that lie dispersed at present in active collections at different locations (Appendix I) are first suitably upgraded and then duplicated in NBPGR's base collections for long-term storage. Such active collections with NBPGR and its regional stations number over 1,25,000 (Table 6), and cover a wide diversity of crops.

Unlike in many other countries, the nodal organisation operating the Indian system, namely, NBPGR, also has the authority for import and export of plant germplasm for research purpose and is fully equipped with very effective and efficient plant quarantine facilities.

Enforcement of New Seed Development Policy by the Government of India has made it obligatory for all plant breeders/researchers, intending to import seed/plant material, to fulfil the following two mandatory requirements of the Plants, Fruits and Seeds (Regulation of Import into India) Order 1989: (i) import permit before importation of material, and (ii) phytosanitary certificate from the country of origin. These two documents must accompany every seed consignment when it reaches the Customs Authority for clearance. The Director, NBPGR has been authorised to issue import permit and receive imported seed/planting material for quarantine inspection and clearance in respect of ICAR institutes/centres, state agricultural universities and ICRISAT. Details of new seed policy are given elsewhere in this book (Chapters 4 and 5).

Fig. 2. National Active Germplasm Sites (1 to 30) collaborating with NBPGR under the Indian National Plant Genetic Resources System

Also at the national level, the ICAR has set up a National Policy Planning and Review Committee on Plant Genetic Resources in 1986 under the chairmanship of the Director General, ICAR to streamline and co-ordinate plant genetic resources activities. It is intended to bring all policy issues concerning collection and conservation of plant genetic resources under the perview of this high-level body. A subcommittee dealing with this aspect under the chairmanship of Dr. A.B. Joshi, former Director, IARI, New Delhi has framed policy proposals, bringing within its fold CSIR, DOEn (ICFRE, BSI), with NBPGR as the nodal organisation at national level. It stresses on national coordination of plant resources activities through linkage and cooperation of all concerned organisations. In the regional context, this linkage is being strengthened through the efforts put forth by the member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The first SAARC meeting on exploration activities of this region was held at NBPGR, New Delhi, in 1987. In this context, NBPGR operates as the nodal agency for developing and implementing work plans under memoranda of understanding/bilateral agreements with different countries related to PGR activities. The Indian National PGR system has emerged as a rapidly vibrant system responsive to learning from rich experience of other nations in this field and is also willing to share Indian expertise and capabilities.

Table 6. Active germplasm collections at NBPGR

Station/Centre	Holdings	Major Crops
Delhi	38,708	Cereals, legumes, oilseeds, vegetables, forages, fruits, M & AP.
Akola	39,004	Chickpea, pigeonpea, sorghum, groundnut, small millets, soybean, safflower, sesame, lentil, amaranths, horsegram.
Amravati	5,800	Mung bean, rice bean, urid bean, sem, sweet potato, chillies, onion, garlic, fruits (grapes, pomegranate, papaya).
Shi ml a	13,105	French bean, rice bean, soybean, lentil, Minor millets, pseudo-cereals, oilseeds, temperate fruits, ornamentals.
Jodhpur	12,076	Guar, moth bean, mung bean, sesame, cowpea, castor
Trichur	8,936	Paddy, horsegram, cowpea, finger millet, chillies, bittergourd, ginger, Curcuma, Colocasia, cassava, Dioscorea.
Bhowali	5,894	Wheat, maize, barley, lentil, beans, hill paddy, Allium spp.
Cuttack	1,943	Rices
Shillong	1,733	Hill rices, maize, rice bean, root crops, fruits.
Total holdings in major crops		1,27,199

Recent developments

Recent years have seen immense national concern for assemblage, evaluation, documentation and conservation of plant genetic resources. To assess the status of these activities vis-a-vis the role of NBPGR in national context, the Bureau organised a National Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources (3-6 March 1987) with representation of international organisations such as IRRI, CIMMYT, ICRISAT and IBPGR (Paroda et al., 1988). The senior author has initiated action to implement recommendations of this symposium such as setting up of Crop Advisory Committees and identification of curators responsible for active germplasm collections. The Indian National Plant Genetic Resource's System (IN-PGRS), as explained above, has been designed to ensure smooth functioning, monitoring, coordination and management of PGR activities at the national level (Rana, 1990). Figure 3 illustrates the linkages of activities under IN-PGRS.

Fig. 3. Linkage of Activities under the Indian National Plant Genetic Resources System (IN-PGRS) operated by NBPGR

Recent emphasis on PGR conservation programmes has focussed on holistic approach considering biodiversity in totality. Thus, the senior author organised a national symposium on the 'Conservation and Sustainable Management of India's Genetic Estate' in New Delhi during 3-4 November 1989 (Rana, 1989) with the support of World Wide Fund for Nature-India. Participation and interaction of governmental/public organisations, such as ICAR, CSIR, DST/DBT, Deptt. of Environment and Forests, agricultural and traditional universities, other autonomous bodies and the NGOs proved effective in assessing the current Indian scene with regard to both in-situ and ex-situ (including in-vitro) conservation measures. The National Academy of Sciences, India also conducted a Symposium on 'Sustainable Management of Natural Resources' at Pondicherry on 23 - 24 September 1990. More recently, the senior author convened a session on 'Biodiversity: Conservation and Utilisation' during the Golden Jubilee Symposium' organised during 12-15 February 1991 by the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding in New Delhi.

Planning Commission's VIII Plan Steering Group on Environment with Dr. M.S. Swaminathan as its chairman constituted a task force that has brought out a publication entitled 'Charter for Nature' (Dwivedi and Bhatt, 1990), a semi-technical book for teachers to promote environmental concern in natural resources and biodiversity among children. This book also contains a chapter on plant genetic resources conservation (Arora et al., 1990). Several thought provoking publications stressing on sustainable management of biodiversity and conservation of plant genetic wealth (Khoshoo, 1986), have come out in recent years. Priorities in protecting environment was also the subject of discussion arranged by the Planning Commission, recently in Kerala, involving leading ecologists, researchers and environmental activists. Indian commitment for conservation and utilisation of biodiversity, of which PGR activities are an integral part is growing steadily. At the international level, these concerns are reflected in the Global Biological Diversity Action Plan drawn up recently by the World Bank and have been debated by the Keystone Dialogues and promoted by the IUCN Plant Conservation and Monitoring Centre at Kew.

In retrospect

Let us now recapitulate and conclude by highlighting the main theme so well covered in this comprehensive publication. Landraces, traditionally grown primitive cultivars and wild relatives of cultivated plants are the basic raw materials that not only sustain the present day crop improvement programmes but will also be required to meet the aspirations of future generations who may require altogether new sources of genes while facing unforeseen challenges of hostile climatic factors, pathogens, pests and abiotic stresses like salinity, drought and unfavourable temperature regimes. Indian subcontinent has been well recognised since long as an important centre of the origin and diversity of a large number of agri-horticultural crops. These invaluable plant genetic resources are, however, increasingly eroded now because of the continuing degradation of their habitats and rapid replacement of locally adapted indigenous cultivars by modern high yielding varieties. Fast shrinking genetic diversity of our commercially grown crops means their increasing vulnerability to widespread epidemics and pest rampage. Hence, scientific and sustainable management of these resources is of prime importance today. India is fully alive to this situation. Conservation programmes should, however, be justified by the effective use of preserved germplasm, and public awareness as well as sustained support from all sections of the society must back up the national programmes aimed at conservation, evaluation, documentation and utilisation of this natural heritage.

Summary

The objectives, activities and achievements of the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources have been highlighted. Its coordinating role as a national nodal organisation in the collection, evaluation, documentation and conservation of plant genetic resources has been stressed; as also its role as a national service for plant introduction, exchange and quarantine and a nodal organisation for such activities carried out under the bilateral/international memoranda of understanding, with different countries, institutes etc. Since its establishment in 1976, the NBPGR now operates through its 12 regional stations/centres located in different agro-climatic regions. Its genebank facility at New Delhi holds over 1 lakh seed samples under long-term storage at -20°C. Besides, tissue culture and cryopreservation facilities have also been established. More recently, the Bureau has further strengthened its coordinating role through the formation of Crop Advisory Committees and identification of 30 National Active Germplasm Sites representing ICAR crop institutes, national research centres/co-ordinated research projects/state agricultural universities. It has also assumed a leading role in conducting training programmes on different aspects of plant genetic resources. In the context of these developments and the overall PGR perspective, an overview of the Indian National Plant Genetic Resources System (IN-PGRS) has been presented.

References

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Appendix I. Indian Plant Genetic Resources System. Directory of National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS).

No.	Crop	NAG site* (NAGS)	No. of accessions currently available
1.	Wheat	Directorate of Wheat Research, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012	17,000
2.	Rice	Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttak 753006 (Orissa)	20,000
3.	Maize	All India Coordinated Maize Improvement Project, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012	25,000
4.	Barley	All India Coordinated Barley Improvement Project, IARI Regional Station, Karnal 132001 (Haryana)	...
5.	Sorghum	National Research Centre (Sorghum), Rajendranagar, Hydrabad 500030 (AP)	2,767
6.	Pearl millet	All India Coordinated Pearl Millet Improvement Project, College of Agriculture, Shivaji Nagar, Pune 411005 (Maharashtra)	...
7.	Minor Milletes	All India Coordinated Minor Millets Project, University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra Campus, Bangalore 560065 (Karnataka)	8,572
8.	Pulses	Directorate of Pulses Research (ICAR), Kanpur 208024 (UP)	9,310
9.	Soybean	National Research Centre for Soybean, Bhawerkua Farm, Khandwa Road, Indore 452001 (MP)	2,500
10.	Oilseeds	Directorate of Oilseeds Research, (ICAR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030 (AP)	15,629
11.	Rape seed & Mustard	All India Coordinated Crop Improvement Project (Rapeseed & Mustard), Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar 125004	15,082
12.	Groundnut	National Research Centre for Groundnut, Timbawadi P.O., Dist. Junagadh 362105 (Gujarat)	6,432
13.	Sugarcane	Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641007 (TN)	3,979
14.	Cotton	Central Institute for Cotton Research, Panjori Farm, Wardha Road, P.B. No. 125, G.P.O. Nagpur, Nagpur 440001 (Maharashtra)	6,896
15.	Jute & Allied Fibres	Central Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barrackpore 743 101 (WB)	3,226
16.	Vegetables	National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Pusa Campus, New Delhi 110012	16,139
17.	Potato	Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla 171001 (Himachal Pradesh)	2,375
18.	Forages	Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (Forage Crops), Gwalior-Jhansi Road, Jhansi 284003 (UP)	6,267
19.	Spices	National Research Centre for Spices, Marikunnu, Calicut 673012 (Kerala)	2,847
20.	Tobacco	Central Tobacco Research Institute Rajahmundry 533105 (AP)	1,500
21.	Plantation Crops	Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod 673024 (Kerala)	307
22.	Medicinal & Aromatic Plants	All India Coordinated Research Project on Medicinal & Aromatic Plants National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Pusa Campus, New Delhi 110012	375
23.	Agro-Forestry Plants	National Research Centre for Agro-Forestry, Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi 284003 (UP)	40
24.	Fruits (semi-arid)	All India Coordinated Project (Semi Arid Fruits), Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar 125004 (Haryana)	541
25.	Fruits (Subtropical & Temperate)	NBPGR Regional Station, Phagli, Shimla 171004 (HP)	454
26.	Fruits	Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, 255 Upper Palace Orchards, Bangalore 560080 (Karnataka)	13,118
27.	Citrus	National Research Centre for Citrus, Seminary Hills, Nagpur 440 006 (Maharashtra)	51
28.	Mango	Central Institute of Horticulture for Northern Plains, B-117, Indira Nagar, Lucknow 226016 (UP)	587
29.	Tuber Crops	Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Sreekariyam, Trivandrum 695017 (Kerala)	3,586
30.	Pseudo-Cereals	NBPGR Regional Station, Phagli, Shimla 171 004 (HP)	3,682
		Total holdings	1,88,262

* For locations 1 to 30, refer Fig. 2.