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The purpose of this indicator is to give an assessment of the extent to which the total genetic diversity available for future use is maintained and to protect it from any permanent loss of genetic diversity.

Ex Situ Crop Collections Enrichment index is a dynamic measure of the bio- and geographical diversity contained within ex-situ collections across time. Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) are the biological basis of world food security. They consist of the diversity of genetic material contained in traditional varieties and modern cultivars grown by farmers as well as crop wild relatives and other wild plant species. It is widely believed that PGRFA are being lost. Agricultural systems are dynamic and the amounts and identity of the genetic diversity in them is constantly subject to change. Ex situ conservation of PGRFA represents the most trusted and popular means of conserving plant genetic resources worldwide. The measure of trends in ex situ conserved materials provides an overall assessment of the extent to which we are managing to maintain and/or increase the total genetic diversity required for current and future production and therefore secure under controlled conditions from any permanent loss of this type of genetic diversity occurring in the field.

Ministry of Agriculture

Ministry of Agriculture

Every 2-3 years

Index

Ex situ collections represent the most accessible gene pool for breeding programmes to improve crop varieties and to find traits of resistance and adaptability to biotic and abiotic stresses, including climate change, salinity, drought, flooding, as well as pests and diseases. Sustainable crop production intensification heavily depends on plant genetic resources and their adequate management.

Ex situ conservation is the conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats. Ex situ conservation can contribute to sustainable production systems and nutritious diets by providing breeding materials for uses such as saline-, pest- or drought tolerance, or which need lower synthetic inputs, or have high nutrient content. Ex situ conservation can make varieties and species that already have those traits easily available.

Food security is defined as “Availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices.” (United Nations. 1975. Report of the World Food Conference, Rome 5-16 November 1974. New York)

Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

country.

The indicator has been calculated by FAO/AGPMG in 2008 and 2014. It will be calculated again in 2015 and then periodically every 2-3 years based on data reported by member countries to the Commission of Genetic Resources of Food and Agriculture on the implementation of the Second Global Plan of Action for PGRFA, as agreed at CGRFA-15: http://www.fao.org/3/a-mm181e.pd

• The conservation of agricultural biodiversity is fundamental to realize the goal of ensuring a healthy food system and other global challenges, such as stopping land degradation and climate change.  For conservation of agricultural biodiversity to happen successfully and contribute to sustainable food systems, conservation actions need to be supported by appropriate policies, mechanisms and institutions.  National programmes that involve different sectors of government are a prerequisite for effective conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity to support sustainable food systems.  There is a need to involve all relevant stakeholders, including those working on agricultural biodiversity, to ensure the involvement of stakeholders other than the state. Broad participatory planning processes, recognition and strengthening of conservation at local level and a change in social and cultural attitudes can all be incorporated based from this indicator.
• Availability of, and accessibility to, these kinds of information are vital to enable farmers, scientists and policymakers to take decisions on what agricultural biodiversity to conserve.

• Difficulty in accessing resources, identifying traits and promoting their use.
• Inability to locate information due to the agricultural biodiversity itself eroding.

Ex-situ crop collections enrichment index measures global trends in the diversity of ex situ conserved materials, providing an overall assessment of the extent to which we are managing to maintain and/or increase the total genetic diversity required for current and future production and therefore secure under controlled conditions from any permanent loss of this type of genetic diversity occurring in the field.

All the metadata shown in this document was gathered from United Nation Statistics Division. The metadata was extracted from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.