Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources: A Case Study from Serbia

Abstract

Diversity is one of the principal components in species adaptation to ever-changing environment. In comparison to natural ecosystems, agriculture imposes additional challenges by constantly increasing the desired yield objectives for cultivated crops. The conservation of biological diversity is thus of essence to secure materials needed in plant breeding to produce crop varieties that are high yielding and adapted to emerging biotic and abiotic stresses. For traits not present in elite material, breeding programs can be designed to include crop wild relatives (CWR), local populations, or old varieties based on their availability for specific crop. This chapter presents case studies of sustainable PGR use in three breeding programs focusing on sunflower CWR, local populations of medicinal plants, and old varieties of small grains. As a genus rich in species that can be crossed with cultivated sunflower, Helianthus has become a model for studies of evolution, but also a popular source of traits for breeding. Disease tolerance traits introduced from the wild species allowed sunflower to still be an economically important crop, while raising interest for wild relatives. Medicinal plants have a long history in Serbian traditional medicine. They have also been investigated on scientific base, so that genetic resources were collected and evaluated for use. The results increased interest for their cultivation, as efforts were made to determine optimal agricultural practices and develop cultivars by breeding. The first Serbian collection of small grain varieties was established to advance existing agricultural production where crops and livestock were integrated in farming systems. With more than a century of organized work on collection, evaluation, and utilization of small grain resources, it is a good example of their sustainable use. The presented collections are a demonstration of returned investment in germplasm conservation and research. As much as the work on PGR may seem long term and with non-tangible return, the benefits are numerous. Increasing availability and knowledge on the germplasm will surely add to the sustainability of both breeding programs and plant genetic resources.