Main Challenges and Actions Needed to Improve Conservation and Sustainable Use of Our Crop Wild Relatives.

ABSTRACT: Crop wild relatives (CWR, plural CWRs) are those wild species that are regarded as the ancestors of our cultivated crops. It was only at the end of the last century that they were accorded a high priority for their conservation and, thus, for many genebanks, they are a new and somewhat unknown set of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. After defining and characterizing CWR and their general threat status, providing an assessment of biological peculiarities of CWR with respect to conservation management, illustrating the need for prioritization and addressing the importance of data and information, we made a detailed assessment of specific aspects of CWRs of direct relevance for their conservation and use. This assessment was complemented by an overview of the current status o

SUBMITTER: Engels JMM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7463933 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature