This 1975 book deals with one of the world's fastest disappearing natural resources - the invaluable reservoir of genetic variability in our cultivated plants which have evolved since our forebears began to domesticate them some 10,000 years ago. The preservation of these 'genetic resources', as they have come to be called, is vital to mankind. Without them the geneticists and plant breeders cannot breed the new varieties needed to feed the world's population by providing more disease-resistant strains of our food plants. This volume explores topics such as how to collect and preserve this variation. It ends with a section on how these activities are planned on a world scale through the medium of FAO and other international agencies, and with the participation of scientists from developed and developing countries. This book will be of use as an intelligently written work of much historic value.

This 1989 volume stresses the way in which the pool of plant genetic resources provides vital raw material for producing new and improved crops and as source materials for experimental biologists. The availability of germplasm - particularly from wild relatives of crop plants - has become increasingly important with the development of new technology. These sophisticated new techniques now enable the plant breeder to make even greater use of many of the beneficial characteristics found in wild plants - such as disease- and drought- resistance - and to transfer these characteristics to improve existing crops. The first four sections of the volume provide a detailed survey of the role of plant collections in research and breeding, some case histories for specific plants, guidance on the size and structure of plant collections, and, finally, the principles and strategies of evaluation. The last two sections look at wild relatives of crops and also the impact of new technology. The volume will be of use to plant breeders, crop scientists, conservationists and plant biologists.

This 1989 volume stresses the way in which the pool of plant genetic resources provides vital raw material for producing new and improved crops and as source materials for experimental biologists. The availability of germplasm - particularly from wild relatives of crop plants - has become increasingly important with the development of new technology. These sophisticated new techniques now enable the plant breeder to make even greater use of many of the beneficial characteristics found in wild plants - such as disease- and drought- resistance - and to transfer these characteristics to improve existing crops. The first four sections of the volume provide a detailed survey of the role of plant collections in research and breeding, some case histories for specific plants, guidance on the size and structure of plant collections, and, finally, the principles and strategies of evaluation. The last two sections look at wild relatives of crops and also the impact of new technology. The volume will be of use to plant breeders, crop scientists, conservationists and plant biologists.