The importance of conserving agrobiodiversity for future global food security lies in its potential to supply crop breeders’ and farmers’ needs for achieving sustainable agriculture. In situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity refers to the maintenance of diverse local crop varieties in farmers’ fields. In situ conservation allows the processes of evolution and adaptation to continue in crop plants, ensuring that new genetic material is generated over time.

In addition, the use of locally adapted materials can reduce the need for fertilizer and pesticides. On farm conservation efforts can serve to improve poor farmers’ livelihoods, in addition to increasing the control and access that farmer and communities have to local crop resources. A major challenge for in situ conservation is the development of the knowledge needed in national programs to determine where, when and how, in situ conservation will be effective.

In 1995, as a response to this challenge, IGPRI and its national partners formulated the project, “Strengthening the scientific basis of in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity on farm” (Project C11). The nine partner countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia Hungary, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Turkey and Vietnam) are all within regions of primary diversity for crop genetic resources with world-wide importance. The countries all have national programs organized to conserve crop genetic resources, including ex situ conservation facilities, plus all have a strong interest in developing the national capacity to support in situ conservation. The project serves to strengthen the relationships between formal institutions and farmers and local-level institutions. The global project was developed with the objectives of:

to develop global and national management frameworks for the implementation of in situ conservation

to collect and analyze information to determine the amount and distribution of genetic diversity in farmers’ fields, the processes maintaining this diversity including human and natural factors, who is maintaining this diversity, and why is it being maintained

to broaden the use of agricultural biodiversity and the participation in its conservation by farming communities and other groups.

The IPGRI CWANA group is closely involved in the implementation of this Project which has two participating countries from the CWANA area - Morocco and Turkey.Therefore, a specific Activity, C11F - In situ Conservation of Crop Cultivars in CWANA - was designed to better coordinate the interaction and the involvement of the CWANA group into this endeavor. A Research Assistant was located in Aleppo from 1998 to 2000 to assist in the implementation of C11F tasks. Since its inception in 1995, the Project has carried out various activities, including:

Standardization of methods and tools for data collection

Identification of key factors that determine the maintenance of genetic diversity

Gathering and analyses of integrated data from country components

Identification of local PA channels to communicate about agrobiodiversity

Adaptation of participatory and empowering methodologies for on farm PGR management

Documentation of case studies to show the importance of agrobiodiversity for agricultural development

Documentation of case studies to show adding value options:

- Support to training programs

- Publication and distribution of training materials on in situ conservation for research and extension workers 

- Facilitation of exchange of experiences and organization of scientific meetings at the global level

- Establishment of strategy planning committee

- Establishment of linkages with relevant partners through joint workshops, joint publications, joint sub-activities, training, exchange of publications etc.

The direct contribution of the in situ CWANA Research Assistant included the development of a database, to document the role of pest and diseases in the on farm conservation and the initiation of a GIS analysis using data produced by the CWANA countries.

An in situ/on farm conservation training manual produced by C11 will be shortly tested in Lebanon through the GEF-UNDP Project on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Dry land AgroBiodiversity in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Authority”(C05F). 

More on IPGRI's in situ /on-farm conservation activities is also available from the in situ Home Page

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