The use of germplasm collections depends to a large extent on the quality and quantity of data available about each accession. Collecting mission documentation provides original data, including location data, about germplasm collected and distributed to genebanks. The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) and its successor, the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI, now Bioversity International) have supported the collection of over 225,000 samples of PGRFA. The documentation about these collecting missions has been digitized, passport data extracted, and made available online (http://www.central-repository.cgiar.org/; http://singer.cgiar.org/index.jsp?page=biomissions). Collecting mission reports often include eco-geographic, environmental, biotic and climate data that can be used to improve knowledge about the accessions and facilitate their utilization.
