Improving documentation and facilitating access to germplasm-related information
Genebanks contain large numbers of accessions that need to be effectively managed to remain viable. Data on the germplasm must be organized, analyzed and accessible to genebank managers and potential users. This can be done manually, using card indexes but computerized systems offer a much better solution. Because of their resource limitations, many genebanks in the Americas lack documentation tools that allow effective management. To address this need, the IPGRI Americas Group focuses its documentation support activities on building capacity among national genebanks to document their germplasm, and making available information on germplasm conserved in the region. The former is attained by training staff on documentation techniques, providing documentation tools and promoting the use of standards (descriptors) to facilitate data exchange and networking, and the latter by compiling information on the germplasm conserved in genebanks in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Two successful documentation support initiatives of the Americas Group are the development and implementation of pcGRIN and the inventory of germplasm collections in Latin America and the Caribbean.
pcGRIN -- a software to manage germplasm documentation
In consultation with national partners, IPGRI and USDA developed a genebank management software that runs on a personal computer. The system, known as pcGRIN, can store passport, taxonomic, evaluation, inventory and germplasm distribution data. It also assists genebank curators in the day-to-day management of their collections, allowing them to conduct customized searches, process germplasm orders, generate reports of germplasm distributed and schedule regeneration of accessions.
The pcGRIN system is available in English and Spanish, free of charge, by contacting Tito Franco, Documentation Specialist. Training and technical assistance are provided to potential users upon request. Passport, characterization, evaluation and inventory data in spreadsheet and other formats can be transferred to pcGRIN using additional USDA software available at www.ars-grin.gov/~dbmuqs/load.html. IPGRI and USDA provide technical support to users and are committed to developing new versions as the need arises.
Genebanks in Latin America that are using pcGRIN to manage their collections include CATIE in Costa Rica, Fundación PROINPA in Bolivia and INIA/DENAREF in Ecuador.
Inventory of germplasm collections in Latin America and the Caribbean
The germplasm conserved ex situ in the
Americas is estimated in over 200,000 accessions. In collaboration with plant
genetic resources networks in the Americas, the IPGRI Americas Group collected data of 270
genebanks in thirty countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The data were compiled
in a directory available at www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/
pubfile+.asp?ID_PUB=606. The same data can be found on-line by consulting
IPGRI's germplasm
database.
