Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Country Reports
Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) provide the biological basis for world food security, and support the livelihoods of every person on Earth. These resources serve as the plant breeder’s most important raw material and the farmer’s most essential input. They are therefore essential for sustainable agricultural production. Properly managed, these resources need never be depleted, for there is no inherent incompatibility between conservation and utilization. The conservation, sustainable utilization, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use is both an international concern and imperative. These, moreover, are basic aims of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In reaffirming the sovereign rights of states over their biological resources, we highlight the fact that formulating an agreed Global Plan of Action addressing plant genetic resources for food and agriculture is an appropriate manifestation of the international community’s concern and responsibility in this area.
In 1983, the FAO Conference established the intergovernmental Commission on Plant Genetic Resources (now the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture), and adopted a non-binding International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources, which, is being revised by the Commission in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity. Presently, the Global System for the Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture includes the Commission, other international agreements, including the above-mentioned International Undertaking, technical mechanisms and global instruments at different stages of development.