Development of PGR documentation systems.

Since an efficient documentation system for PGR collections underpins many of the objectives of this project, one of the most important activities this year has been to facilitate an accession level inventory of PGR collections in the region and the development of a data sharing platforms in each country. The following activities were undertaken this year to progress this objective:

To facilitate adoption and speed up the inventory process the ICARDA database interface was translated into Russian. To enhance national program buy-in this was done with the assistance of national program scientists.
A documentation coordination meeting was held in April of 2005 in Tashkent attended by leading PGR workers from each country and the National PGR coordinators. The aim of the meeting was to promote the importance of PGR documentation, foster data sharing between institutes and a regional action and training program developed.
DB training work shop for Central Asian PGR workers was held in Tashkent attended by those personnel from each country who will be responsible for their country's inventory. The workshop lasted 1 week and was attended by 12 scientists and was largely facilitated by documentation scientists trained in the last ACAIR project.
To enhance cross institutional - cross ministerial cooperation in central asia, which is essentiall for the long term success of this endeavour, the project coordinator, Dr Ken Street, accompanied by the regional PGR documention focal point, Ms Natalya Rukhkyan of Armenia did a tour of the central Asian republics and held seminars in each country that were attended by stakeholders from all ministries and institutions that hold PGR collections. The aims and benefits of sharing PGR data were presented and mechanisms for national cooperation were discussed.

Collection missions

2 plant collection missions were during the period covered by this reported.

Tajikistan

The target species were cereal, pasture and food legume landrace and wild relatives. 427 accessions were collected from 64 sites that were situated up to 120 km east and south east of Dushanbe.

The following classes of material were collected

Class
Number of accessions
Ornamentals
3
Oil seed crops
11
Pasture and forages
88
Food legumes
109
Cereals
215
Total
427

Of special interest were two wheat landrace varieties that were collected that were thought to have gone extinct in the 1920s. Also noteworthy are the lentil, chickpea and pea local forms collected at high elevation that are likely to be cold resistant. Tajikistan is by far the richest country in terms of landrace material of cereals and food legumes.

The mission team was composed of scientists from the Tajik Agrarian Academy, the Vavilov Institute, ICARDA and the Uzbek Botanic Institute.

Armenia

The target species on this mission were food and forage legumes; both landraces and wild forms. 293 accessions were collected in the southern provinces from a total of 77 sites.

The following classes of accessions were collected:

Class
Number of accessions
Food legumes
23
Cereals
38
Pasture legumes
231
Total
293

Of particular interest were accessions of amphicarpic (flowering above and below ground) Lens ervoides , which is a wild relative of lentil. This phenomena has not been reported in the Lens genra before.

The mission team was composed of scientists from the Armenian Botanic Institute, the Vavilov Institute, and the Center For Legumes in Mediterranean areas (Australia).

Support of Trust initiatives

The Global Crop Diversity Trust fund is an initiative to secure an endowment that will be used to support ex-situ seed collections world wide for ever. The Australian government and GRDC have made a significant contribution to this important undertaking. The Trust began operations in Central Asia and the Caucusas in 2004 and is being supported by this projects activities and personnel. The project coordinator, Dr Ken Street was asked to lead the development of a rational regional PGR conservation strategy that will identify important collections in the region for long term trust support. This year a number of meetings involving the regions stakeholders were held to begin the strategy development process. A public awareness package was also generated to gain political buy-in to the Trusts objectives in the region.

Training

3 young PGR focused scientists received an intensive 3 month English language training supported by this project.
1 young PGR scientist from Azerbaijan spent 2 months at ICARDA where she received on the job training in agro-morphological field characterization techniques.
2 PGR workers from Tajikistan and Armenia received hands on plant training in plant collection mission methodologies.
12 PGR focused scientists received comprehensive PGR documentation training this year.

Characterization of CAC material and material

Lentil
VIR material

Characterization of subsets of material of value to CAC region

This year in a cross linked GRDC project a set of 750 bread wheat landrace accessions of was trialed for drought tolerance at Tel Hadya and a dryer site 80 km east of Tel Hadya. The subset of material was chosen from the VIR, AWCC and ICARDA collection using GIS technology to identify material from particularly dry environments. This subset will be trialled next year in Central Asia to contribute to their breeding programs which have a focus on germplasm for dry areas.

Development of agroclimatic surfaces for the CAC region and Eurasia.

The following GIS surfaces are being extended from CWANA region to Eurasia by ICARDA's GIS lab supported by this project and a cross linked GRDC project. The aim is to be able to identify sub-sets of germplasm with specific traits of interest to the region based on the environments from which germplasm was collected.

Climate:
Precipitation, monthly + annual totals, patterns, % in winter, spring, summer, and autumn
Mean Maximum, Minimum temperature, monthly + annual
Absolute Maximum and Minimum Temperature, Annual
Potential evapotranspiration (Penman-Monteith), monthly + annual
Frost period: duration, start and end month
Aridity index, monthly + annual
Agroclimatic zones
Growing period lengths, onset and end months, constrained by either temperature or moisture or both

Soils:
Shallow soils
Acid soils
Soils with low organic matter content
Soils with moderate to high organic matter content
Coarse textured soils
Medium-textured soils
Finely-textured soils
Excessive wetness
Stony soils
Soils with high risk of aluminium toxicity
Soils with high risk of P-fixation
Soils with vertic properties
Calcareous soils
Saline soils
Soils with high Na-content
Saline/sodic soils
Indurated soils
Dominant soils

The outputs detailed in section 3.2 are listed with progress towards them detailed below each output.

A national policy infrastructure in each of the 8 CAC countries that supports PGR conservation efforts

The PGR unit set up and supported by this project in Armenia successfully formed a cross ministerial and institutional PGR agency. This Agency has lobbied the government of Armenia to sign the International Treaty on PGR for food and agriculture. This process is in its final stages.

The PGR unit in Tajikistan has successfully lobbied the Government to place PGR conservation issues on their agenda for official support.

This project this has contributed significantly to a decision, by the Swedish funding agency, SIDA, to come into the area with a well funded 20 year project to support PGR conservation and the seed sector - Included in the project is support of policy development objectives.

Likewise this project has actively supported the Global Crop Diversity Fund's regional strategy development process which is contributing to a greater awareness of policy issues surrounding PGR conservation and utilization in the region.

Functional PGR entities whose sole focus is PGR conservation set up in each country
Seed storage facilities operational in each country

The project continues to support national PGR units with operational funds, training and an annual coordination meetings and support to develop storage facility infrastructure.

Technical backstopping was supplied to facilitate the development and or improvement of storage facilities in Armenia, Khazakstan and Georgia.

In January 2006 a coordination meeting and technical workshop was held in Tashkent attended by national coordinators, policy makers and key scientists. Report on meeting is appended.

The project contributed towards purchasing standby generators for the genenbanks in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, a deep freezer for the Turkmen genebank.

In support of the Armenian and Georgian PGR units, project proposals to attract USDA funding to support genebank development and regeneration activities were developed in collaboration with the units and have been approved.

National base collections of endemic field crop accessions identified and conserved.

Completing inventories of ex-situ collections is the first and most major step in this process. During the period under report they were 80 - 90% completed in each country.

A national PGR database that documents all national ex-situ field crop seed collections

Faciliating the completion of national inventories is a crucial first step in this process. As outlined above the inventories are more or less completed in each country - the capacity development that has been necessary for this will contribute to a sustainable national database.

A web-enabled regional PGR database

A local soft ware developer has been contracted to design the necessary framework that will allow for a CAC-Regional Database to be published on the web.

Database containing detailed environmental data sets for all collections sites within the CAC region

Currently there are 69 agro-climatic parameters that are associeated with every CAC collection site that is geo-referenced. A further set of soil surfaces are currently under construction.

Expanded ex-situ collections with a greater representation of environments.

A collection mission was undertaken in Tajikistan this year north of Dushanbe in previously unexplored regions with a focus on isolated mountain villages. 371 accessions of cereals and legumes landraces and wild material was collected.

Trait specific subsets of accessions of key crop species identified.

In a cross linked activity with the GRDC funded ICA1 project a best-bet subset of 1250 bread wheat landraces was identified for resistance to Russian Wheat Aphids.

Accessions identified with tolerance to various limiting factors

The RWA subset was tested in the field and in the glass house at ICARDA. 12 accessions were identified as resistant. The resistant material will be sent onto national breeding programs in the CAC region for their use.

A best bet salt tolerant and drought tolerant set was screened at ICARDA, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia this season - preliminary results are indicate promising accessions. The trials are still being analysed.

Present project outcomes and achievements in regional coordination meeting s

Project outcomes and progress were reported at the ICARDA and CGIAR regional coordination meetings this year.

Publicize project outcomes in appropriate journals

Project outcomes have been reported in the following mainstream press publications; Bulliten Magazine, Ecos Magazine, Ground Cover, The West Australian newspaper, The Australian Science Magazine and Issues Magazine. The Support of ACAIR was acknowledged in each Article.

Include outcomes in web page. Promote web-page using ICARDA information dissemination network.

The www.CAC-Biodiversity.org web-page developed by the former ACAIR project is being regularly updated and refined.

Organize international PGR conference in the area

The project contributed financially towards the costs associated with a regional bio-diversity conference held in Azerbaijan in June 2006.

This project which enables a dedicated botanist/taxonomist to work with the Genetic Resources Section (GRS) at ICARDA has meant that:
The GRS herbarium has been upgraded and relocated to more suitable (cool, dust-free), larger, more accessible location within the main GRS building, which is enabling specimens to be kept in closer to optimal conditions.
Over 2000 herbarium specimens, from various collection missions and other excursions as well as from field plots at ICARDA have been prepared. Much of this material was collected from the ACIAR sponsored series of misisons in the CAC republics. The GRS herbarium now contains specimens of over 11,000 plant accessions spread across 390 different species (10,877 currently listed in database, approx. 400 prepared but yet to be added to database, >800 still in presses, to be dried, mounted, identified etc.)
Identifications of around 600 genebank accessions of Aegilops, Lens, Cicer, Vicia and Lathyrus have been checked, and specimens collected from field plots and pots in plastic houses. With some groups it was found that up to 20% of accessions had problems: being either misidentified, unidentified, mixtures of species, or probably contaminated with species other than those originally collected. In other cases, there were far fewer problems with taxonomic identity of accessions.
Ongoing identification and general specimen curation work with the existing collection is being carried out.
There is now an 'extra hand' available to participate in collection missions and vegetation monitoring surveys, one who can better identify more specimens at point of collection. Missions completed to date are: SYR09H-2 and SYR10H-2 (herbarium specimen collection only, ICARDA in collaboration with Dr. Nigel Maxted plus several Masters degree students from University of Birmingham, UK, held annually in May). A vegetation monitoring mission for the agrobiodiversity study project (ICARDA, GEF, UNDP, IPGRI) documenting natural resource use / degredation in the region.
A gap analyis study of wild lentil (Lens) species is being carried out by comparing provenances of ICARDA genebank wild Lens material with provenances of herbarium specimens. This has meant examination and identification of Lens specimens at various appropriate herbaria, including here at GRS, at Damascus and Beirut and at RBG Kew, UK. A clear gap in the ICARDA wild Lens germplasm collection has been identified, north Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia) where herbarium specimens of 4 Lens species have been collected in the past, but from where ICARDA currently has no germplasm from any of them. Information such as this will help to target future collection missions.
Regarding repatriation of Iraq-provenance germplasm held at ICARDA (>1000 accessions) to the Iraqi National Genebank in Baghdad, not much progress has been made. In April 2010 this project helped enable Mrs Sanaa Abdul Rahman, Head of Plant Genetic Resources in Iraq, attend a 2-week training course on genebank management, germplasm collection and herbarium methods held here at GRS, ICARDA. At this stage it appears that conditions in Baghdad and facilities at their genebank may not yet be suitable for repatriation of the germplasm from here.

This project which enables a dedicated botanist/taxonomist to work with the Genetic Resources Section (GRS) at ICARDA has meant that:
The GRS herbarium has been upgraded and relocated to more suitable (cool, dust-free), larger, more accessible location within the main GRS building, which is enabling specimens to be kept in closer to optimal conditions.
Over 2000 herbarium specimens, from various collection missions and other excursions as well as from field plots at ICARDA have been prepared. Much of this material was collected from the ACIAR sponsored series of misisons in the CAC republics. The GRS herbarium now contains specimens of over 11,000 plant accessions spread across 390 different species (10,877 currently listed in database, approx. 400 prepared but yet to be added to database, >800 still in presses, to be dried, mounted, identified etc.)
Identifications of around 600 genebank accessions of Aegilops, Lens, Cicer, Vicia and Lathyrus have been checked, and specimens collected from field plots and pots in plastic houses. With some groups it was found that up to 20% of accessions had problems: being either misidentified, unidentified, mixtures of species, or probably contaminated with species other than those originally collected. In other cases, there were far fewer problems with taxonomic identity of accessions.
Ongoing identification and general specimen curation work with the existing collection is being carried out.
There is now an 'extra hand' available to participate in collection missions and vegetation monitoring surveys, one who can better identify more specimens at point of collection. Missions completed to date are: SYR09H-2 and SYR10H-2 (herbarium specimen collection only, ICARDA in collaboration with Dr. Nigel Maxted plus several Masters degree students from University of Birmingham, UK, held annually in May). A vegetation monitoring mission for the agrobiodiversity study project (ICARDA, GEF, UNDP, IPGRI) documenting natural resource use / degredation in the region.
A gap analyis study of wild lentil (Lens) species is being carried out by comparing provenances of ICARDA genebank wild Lens material with provenances of herbarium specimens. This has meant examination and identification of Lens specimens at various appropriate herbaria, including here at GRS, at Damascus and Beirut and at RBG Kew, UK. A clear gap in the ICARDA wild Lens germplasm collection has been identified, north Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia) where herbarium specimens of 4 Lens species have been collected in the past, but from where ICARDA currently has no germplasm from any of them. Information such as this will help to target future collection missions.
Regarding repatriation of Iraq-provenance germplasm held at ICARDA (>1000 accessions) to the Iraqi National Genebank in Baghdad, not much progress has been made. In April 2010 this project helped enable Mrs Sanaa Abdul Rahman, Head of Plant Genetic Resources in Iraq, attend a 2-week training course on genebank management, germplasm collection and herbarium methods held here at GRS, ICARDA. At this stage it appears that conditions in Baghdad and facilities at their genebank may not yet be suitable for repatriation of the germplasm from here.

This project which enables a dedicated botanist/taxonomist to work with the Genetic Resources Section (GRS) at ICARDA has meant that:
The GRS herbarium has been upgraded and relocated to more suitable (cool, dust-free), larger, more accessible location within the main GRS building, which is enabling specimens to be kept in closer to optimal conditions.
Over 2000 herbarium specimens, from various collection missions and other excursions as well as from field plots at ICARDA have been prepared. Much of this material was collected from the ACIAR sponsored series of misisons in the CAC republics. The GRS herbarium now contains specimens of over 11,000 plant accessions spread across 390 different species (10,877 currently listed in database, approx. 400 prepared but yet to be added to database, >800 still in presses, to be dried, mounted, identified etc.)
Identifications of around 600 genebank accessions of Aegilops, Lens, Cicer, Vicia and Lathyrus have been checked, and specimens collected from field plots and pots in plastic houses. With some groups it was found that up to 20% of accessions had problems: being either misidentified, unidentified, mixtures of species, or probably contaminated with species other than those originally collected. In other cases, there were far fewer problems with taxonomic identity of accessions.
Ongoing identification and general specimen curation work with the existing collection is being carried out.
There is now an 'extra hand' available to participate in collection missions and vegetation monitoring surveys, one who can better identify more specimens at point of collection. Missions completed to date are: SYR09H-2 and SYR10H-2 (herbarium specimen collection only, ICARDA in collaboration with Dr. Nigel Maxted plus several Masters degree students from University of Birmingham, UK, held annually in May). A vegetation monitoring mission for the agrobiodiversity study project (ICARDA, GEF, UNDP, IPGRI) documenting natural resource use / degredation in the region.
A gap analyis study of wild lentil (Lens) species is being carried out by comparing provenances of ICARDA genebank wild Lens material with provenances of herbarium specimens. This has meant examination and identification of Lens specimens at various appropriate herbaria, including here at GRS, at Damascus and Beirut and at RBG Kew, UK. A clear gap in the ICARDA wild Lens germplasm collection has been identified, north Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia) where herbarium specimens of 4 Lens species have been collected in the past, but from where ICARDA currently has no germplasm from any of them. Information such as this will help to target future collection missions.
Regarding repatriation of Iraq-provenance germplasm held at ICARDA (>1000 accessions) to the Iraqi National Genebank in Baghdad, not much progress has been made. In April 2010 this project helped enable Mrs Sanaa Abdul Rahman, Head of Plant Genetic Resources in Iraq, attend a 2-week training course on genebank management, germplasm collection and herbarium methods held here at GRS, ICARDA. At this stage it appears that conditions in Baghdad and facilities at their genebank may not yet be suitable for repatriation of the germplasm from here.

This project which enables a dedicated botanist/taxonomist to work with the Genetic Resources Section (GRS) at ICARDA has meant that:
The GRS herbarium has been upgraded and relocated to more suitable (cool, dust-free), larger, more accessible location within the main GRS building, which is enabling specimens to be kept in closer to optimal conditions.
Over 2000 herbarium specimens, from various collection missions and other excursions as well as from field plots at ICARDA have been prepared. Much of this material was collected from the ACIAR sponsored series of misisons in the CAC republics. The GRS herbarium now contains specimens of over 11,000 plant accessions spread across 390 different species (10,877 currently listed in database, approx. 400 prepared but yet to be added to database, >800 still in presses, to be dried, mounted, identified etc.)
Identifications of around 600 genebank accessions of Aegilops, Lens, Cicer, Vicia and Lathyrus have been checked, and specimens collected from field plots and pots in plastic houses. With some groups it was found that up to 20% of accessions had problems: being either misidentified, unidentified, mixtures of species, or probably contaminated with species other than those originally collected. In other cases, there were far fewer problems with taxonomic identity of accessions.
Ongoing identification and general specimen curation work with the existing collection is being carried out.
There is now an 'extra hand' available to participate in collection missions and vegetation monitoring surveys, one who can better identify more specimens at point of collection. Missions completed to date are: SYR09H-2 and SYR10H-2 (herbarium specimen collection only, ICARDA in collaboration with Dr. Nigel Maxted plus several Masters degree students from University of Birmingham, UK, held annually in May). A vegetation monitoring mission for the agrobiodiversity study project (ICARDA, GEF, UNDP, IPGRI) documenting natural resource use / degredation in the region.
A gap analyis study of wild lentil (Lens) species is being carried out by comparing provenances of ICARDA genebank wild Lens material with provenances of herbarium specimens. This has meant examination and identification of Lens specimens at various appropriate herbaria, including here at GRS, at Damascus and Beirut and at RBG Kew, UK. A clear gap in the ICARDA wild Lens germplasm collection has been identified, north Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia) where herbarium specimens of 4 Lens species have been collected in the past, but from where ICARDA currently has no germplasm from any of them. Information such as this will help to target future collection missions.
Regarding repatriation of Iraq-provenance germplasm held at ICARDA (>1000 accessions) to the Iraqi National Genebank in Baghdad, not much progress has been made. In April 2010 this project helped enable Mrs Sanaa Abdul Rahman, Head of Plant Genetic Resources in Iraq, attend a 2-week training course on genebank management, germplasm collection and herbarium methods held here at GRS, ICARDA. At this stage it appears that conditions in Baghdad and facilities at their genebank may not yet be suitable for repatriation of the germplasm from here.

This project, which has enabled a dedicated botanist/taxonomist to work with the Genetic Resources Section (GRS) at ICARDA, has resulted in the following:
The GRS herbarium has been upgraded and relocated to a more suitable (cool, dust-free), larger, and accessible location within the main GRS building, enabling specimens to be kept closer to optimal conditions.
A total of about 4,000 herbarium specimens, from various collection missions and other excursions as well as from field plots at ICARDA, have been prepared in the two years of this project. The GRS herbarium now contains specimens of over 12,000 plant accessions of ICARDA's various mandate crop plants and their wild relatives in families Poaceae and Leguminosae. These include 12 genera of the tribe Triticeae (cereals and wild relatives) and 26 genera of Leguminosae, the legumes lentil, chickpea, field pea, faba bean, grass pea, as well as many forage legumes, and their wild relatives.
This year, identification of about 250 genebank accessions of Aegilops, Hordeum, Vicia and Lathyrus, which were multiplied in field plots or pots, have been checked, and some useful specimens have been collected. Overall, misidentification rates were less than 10%, and a number of mixed accessions were identified. A proportion of the accessions are new additions to the genebank, and this annual process of checking the field plots is very important for confirming their identity.
Routine identification and general specimen curation work with the existing collection is being carried out.
A study was carried out this year to check identification of existing germplasm accessions of Aegilops and Amblyopyrum. The study found that it was quite possible to identify these taxa from stored dry material, and provided a rapid way (>2,000 accessions identified in c. 2 weeks) of 'cleaning up' the collection. Overall misidentification rate was low (c. 3%), but a number of 'difficult-to-identify' taxa were detected. By comparison of misidentification rates of pre- and post-1995 accessions, it was possible to gauge the effect on the state of the collection of having (and then not having) a competent taxonomist as curator. Misidentification rates were found to have increased greatly in the absence of a dedicated and taxonomically competent individual working with the collection (taxonomist M.van Slageren worked specifically with Aegilops at ICARDA between 1988 and 1994).
An interactive identification key to the wild Triticeae members found in this area (West Asia, Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus) is being produced using LUCID. One of the sub-keys-to the 22 species of Aegilops, and Amblyopyrum-is almost finished, and has been trialled successfully. Images and line drawings are waiting to be uploaded. Good quality scanned images of most of the taxa included in the Triticeae key have been made.
Two seed-collecting missions were conducted in July-August 2010 to Armenia and Georgia, where c. 500 new accessions of seed were collected, including Aegilops, Hordeum, Secale, other Triticeae and Leguminosae. Herbarium specimens were also made where possible, as vouchers for the seed accessions. The accessions from Georgia are currently being grown in quarantine field plots at ICARDA for disease monitoring, identification and multiplication, but the Armenian material unfortunately remains 'held up' in Damascus because of some 'red tape' issues, which hopefully will soon be resolved.
A vegetation monitoring mission for the agrobiodiversity study project (ICARDA, GEF, UNDP, IPGRI) documenting natural resource use / degredation in the region was conducted in parts of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Many herbarium specimens were collected as vouchers in order to compile accurate species lists.
Some herbarium information materials have been prepared covering topics such as 'what is a herbarium?', 'why do we need herbarium specimens?' and 'how to prepare herbarium specimens'. These materials have been disseminated to trainees who come to ICARDA for training courses in conservation of genetic resources, and plant collection and herbarium techniques.
Regarding repatriation of the Iraq-provenance germplasm held at ICARDA (>1,000 accessions) to the Iraqi National Genebank in Baghdad, not much progress has been made. At this stage, it appears that conditions in Baghdad and facilities at their genebank may not yet be suitable for repatriation of the germplasm.