IPGRI’S ROLE IN CONTROLLING VIRUS DISEASES IN FRUIT GERMPLASM*

The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is one of the 16 International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) of the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research). It was established in 1974 as the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) and has its headquarters in Rome, Italy.
IPGRI’s mandate is to advance the conservation and use of genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

IPGRI’s activities in the field of germplasm health can be divided into three categories.
The first activity relates to strategic research with the objective of developing techniques that will improve the safety and efficiency of germplasm movement and involves essentially biotechnology.
The second, and perhaps most obvious, activity consists mainly of assembling and disseminating information relating to quarantine.
In this area IPGRI closely collaborates with the Plant Protection Service of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). The third activity concerns the phytosanitary aspects of genebank management.
In this area IPGRI contributes to improving the awareness of curators and other scientists working with germplasm of the deleterious effect of seedborne pathogens in the conservation of the genetic diversity of crop genepools and to the development of new concepts to overcome these problems.
In all three fields, viruses play an important role.

XVII International Symposium Virus and Virus-Like Diseases of Temperate Fruit Crops

M. Diekmann

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1998.472.99