Crop Diversity, Its Conservation and Use for Better Food Systems

AbstractThe genetic diversity contained in crops and their wild relatives is the foundation of tomorrow’s agriculture, allowing farmers and professional breeders to develop the new crop varieties that agriculture needs to adapt to changing conditions. The loss of this diversity poses a considerable risk to global food security. The conservation of agrobiodiversity in situ (in nature and in agricultural practice), as well as ex situ (in genebanks), is indispensable. However, many genebanks are unable to guarantee the safe conservation of the material in their care, let alone to create opportunities for its use in plant breeding and for more sustainable agriculture. Much remains to be done, first and foremost strengthening the global system of ex-situ conservation, making this system fit for the purpose of caring for hard-to-conserve materials, and innovative funding of this system.