About Field Crop Genetic Resources Department
Genetic resources are the biological basis of global food security and directly or indirectly support human livelihoods through the food, medicine, animal feed, fibre, clothing, housing, energy and many other products and services they provide. They consist of the diversity of genetic material present in traditional varieties and modern plant stocks, as well as crop wild relatives and other natural plant species that It can be used now or in the future for food and agriculture.
Objective
- Collecting and conserving plant genetic resources, from erosion and extinction.
- Exchanging information concerning genetic resources with local and international gene banks.
- Identifying the core collection of genetic resources that can be utilized in both public and private research and breeding programs.
- Developing plans for a collection of genetic resources to ensure the safety of these resources and to provide the different breeding programs with the required genetic materials and relative information.
- Characterization of the collected genetic resources.
- To address the prevailing conditions of climate change for agricultural research and breeding towards achieving food security.
- Strengthen the international cooperation in the field of genetic resources.
- Enhancing public awareness of genetic resources maintenance to protect the national resources against erosion and to regulate the utilization of such resources.
- Participating in exploration missions intended for collecting genetic resources from their native habitat.
- Facilitating the exchange of genetic resources and implementation of the intellectual property legislation concerning national genetic resources.
- Documenting the Egyptian genetic resources on the NGB database.
Activities
Seeds storage
In the NGB, two different forms of packing are used: plastic packing is used in both the active storage room (-5), as well as the temporary storage room (+5). while we are using specialized aluminum foil at the base storage room (-20) to preserve the samples in cold storage for an extended period.
Characterization
The description must be in the way that the breeder and the various breeding programs are benefited from; there are morphological traits with high hereditary ability that are important in breeding programs, and there are various other traits of high agricultural value that must also be recorded to characterise and identify those inputs and make full use of those genetic resources.
Notable: Characterization is carried out using international models UPOV- IPGRI.
Evaluation
It is the process of testing genetic resources by evaluating the important genetic traits carried by these germplasms that are affected by different degrees under 9 different environmental conditions such as resistance to pests and diseases or the quality of their seeds. Also, the assessment of all genetic resources for their tolerance to adverse conditions (such as tolerance to salinity – drought – heat) and vital stresses (such as: tolerance to disease, insect and pest infestation) in different regions.
Regeneration
Propagation is a major process and an integral part of the responsibility of any genebank that maintains traditional seeds. It is a process that increases the seeds (A) (B) 8 stored in the genebank and/or increases the viability of the seeds to equal or greater than the agreed minimum level. The sample is renewed if it no longer contains enough seeds for long-term storage (i.e. 1,500 seeds for self-pollinating species and 3,000 for out crossings) or when its viability falls below a specified minimum threshold (i.e., less than 85 percent of initial germination of stocked seeds). And if the demand for one of the registered samples is rare and its validity is impeccable, then the number of seeds can reach less than 1000 before renewal. Regeneration should be performed when viability drops below 85 percent of the original viability or when the amount of seed remaining is less than necessary for three cycles of the representative population of Bank-registered samples and the oldest original sample specimen should be used for regeneration of registered samples.
distribution
Gene banks aim to make available to users as many recorded samples as possible, including associated data. If stocks are depleted, samples should be multiplied to meet user demands as a matter of priority, and gene banks that maintain working collections should enhance the availability of genetic resources for uses including research, breeding, education, agriculture and reintroduction. At the international level, gene banks can be a source for providing supplies of wild origin PGR to countries that are setting up their own gene banks.
- Seeds are distributed in compliance with national laws and relevant international treaties and agreements.
- Submit seed samples with all relevant documents required by the recipient country
- The time between receiving a seed request and sending, it is kept to a minimum
Staff
Prof. Dr. Soliman Abdelmaaboud Abdelmaaboud Arab
+20 100 322 5345
Solimanngb@gmail.com
