The world faces a continual need to increase crop productivity, and to develop new varieties more adapted to changing environmental and biological challenges or to meet the evolving needs of local communities. To meet these needs and challenges, farmers and breeders not only must have access to a wide range of plant genetic resources but also must have access to the essential information about those plant genetic resources that will allow effective use to be made of them. These guidelines have been developed to assist genebank curators, breeders, plant scientists, national programmes, networks and users of genetic resources working with specific crops and gene pools to develop their own descriptor lists in order to characterize their material and make information available to others in a systematic and unambiguous form. In order to increase international exchange of material, a minimum element of uniformity is critical in data collection, recording, storage and retrieval. Developing standards for documentation and for exchanging information is essential for ensuring that the vast amount of data on crop species and varieties is available to countries to improve their capacity to store, manage and share information about biodiversity. The development of descriptor lists will assist in the systematic and objective recording and exchange of information such as passport, characterization and evaluation data, which in turn will increase utilization of germplasm so that people can make better use of biodiversity. Descriptors have been developed by Bioversity International and its predecessors, the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), for almost 100 crops in collaboration with scientists and international research organizations. However, there is a high demand for new descriptor lists to be developed for many species and new crops, including neglected crops, crops of regional or local importance, and forest species. The guidelines presented here have been produced based on experience gained from a wide range of crop studies and collaboration with many scientists, national programmes and crop networks. Various drafts of this Guide were circulated at different times to a number of Bioversity scientists and this publication is the consolidated result of those consultations (see Appendix I - Contributors). The development process was coordinated by Adriana Alercia, with scientific guidance from Dr Ramanatha Rao. These guidelines provide background information, set objectives and give insights into the structure, elements and methodology used by Bioversity to develop descriptor lists. They also provide a step-by-step checklist for defining characterization and evaluation descriptors, which can serve as a quick reference guide when developing new descriptor lists. Bioversity is thankful for the scientific advice and suggestions contributed by many scientists during the development of these guidelines.
Developing crop descriptor lists
Guidelines for developers
Related Files
- PDF free file avaible 935 KB
- Journal/Series:
- Bioversity Technical Bulletin, 13
- Pages:
- 71 p.
- Publication Year:
- 2007
- Publication Format:
- B5
- ISBN 10:
- 92-9043-729-4
- ISBN 13:
- 978-92-9043-729-1
- Language:
- EN
See also
Descripteurs de passeport multi-cultures FAO/Bioversity (V.2.1)
- Authors:
- Alercia, A; Diulgheroff, S; Mackay, M.
- Corporate Author:
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome (Italy); Bioversity International, Rome (Italy)
- Publication Year:
- 2015
Descriptores de pasaporte para cultivos múltiples FAO/BIOVERSITY V.2.1 [MCPD V.2.1]
- Authors:
- Alercia, A; Diulgheroff, S; Mackay, M.
- Publication Year:
- 2015
FAO/Bioversity Multi-Crop Passport Descriptors V.2.1 [MCPD V.2.1]
- Authors:
- Alercia, A; Diulgheroff, S; Mackay, M.
- Corporate Author:
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome (Italy); Bioversity International, Rome (Italy)
- Publication Year:
- 2015
Descriptors for Butiá [Butia odorata (Barb. Rodr.) Noblick]
- Authors:
- Mistura, C.C.; Barbieri, R.L.; Castro, C.M.; Padulosi, S.; Alercia, A.
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy); Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation, Embrapa Temperate Agriculture, Pelotas, RS (Brazil)
- Publication Year:
- 2015
Descriptors for Crocus (Crocus spp.)
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy); Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain; Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (Spain); Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)
- Publication Year:
- 2015
Descriptors for Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.)
- Authors:
- Kehlenbeck, K.; Padulosi, S.; Alercia, A.
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy); World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi (Kenya)
- Publication Year:
- 2015
Descripteurs pour le quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) et ses espèces sauvages apparentées
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italie); Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'agriculture et l'alimentation (FAO), Rome (Italie); Fondation PROINPA, La Paz (Bolivie); Institut national d'innovation agricole et forestière, La Paz (Bolivie); Fonds international de développement agricole, Rome (Italie)
- Publication Year:
- 2013
Descriptors for quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) and wild relatives
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy); Fundación PROINPA, La Paz (Bolivia); Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria y Forestal, La Paz (Bolivia); International Fund for Agricultural Development, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome (Italy)
- Publication Year:
- 2013
Descriptores para quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) y sus parientes silvestres
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Roma (Italia); FAO, Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe, Santiago de Chile (Chile); PROINPA, La Paz (Bolivia); Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria y Forestal (INIAF), La Paz (Bolivia)
- Publication Year:
- 2013
Core descriptors for in situ conservation of crop wild relatives v.1.
- Authors:
- Thormann, I.; Alercia, A.; Dulloo, M.E.
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy)
- Publication Year:
- 2013
Descriptors for tree tomato (Solanum betaceum Cav.) and wild relatives
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy); Departamento de Ciencias Agropecuarias y de Alimentos (UTPL), Loja (Ecuador); Instituto de Conservación y Mejora de la Agrodiversidad Valenciana, Valencia (Spain)
- Publication Year:
- 2013
FAO/Bioversity Multi-Crop Passport Descriptors V.2 [MCPD V.2].
- Authors:
- Alercia, A.; Diulgheroff, S.; Mackay, M.
- Corporate Author:
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome (Italy); Bioversity International, Rome (Italy)
- Publication Year:
- 2012
Key access and utilization descriptors for cowpea genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR); and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Descriptores para arroz silvestre e cultivado (Oryza spp.)
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome, (Italy); International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, (Filipinas); AfricaRice, Centro de Arroz da Africa, Cotonou, (Benin)
- Publication Year:
- 2011
Key access and utilization descriptors for sweet potato genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy); International Potato Centre (CIP)
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Key access and utilization descriptors for sorghum genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); United Sorghum Checkoff Program
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Key access and utilization descriptors for maize genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
- Publication Year:
- 2009
Key access and utilization descriptors for rice genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy); International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
- Publication Year:
- 2009
Key access and utilization descriptors for bean genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy; Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)
- Publication Year:
- 2009
Key access and utilization descriptors for pearl millet genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS); All India Coordinated Research Project on Pearl Millet (AICR)
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Key access and utilization descriptors for pigeonpea genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Key access and utilization descriptors for lentil genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA); and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR)
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Key access and utilization descriptors for finger millet genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; All India Coordinated Research Project on Small Millets (AICRP-Small Millets); International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA); International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); National Bureau of
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Descriptores del conocimiento que los agricultores tienen de las plantas
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International, Rome (Italy)
- Publication Year:
- 2010
Key access and utilization descriptors for chickpea genetic resources
- Corporate Author:
- Bioversity International; International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA); International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)
- Publication Year:
- 2010
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