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IBPGR is an international scientific institute established in 1974 under the aegis of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). IBPGR's mission is to encourage, support and engage in activities to strengthen the conservation and use of plant genetic resources worldwide, with special emphasis on the needs of developing countries. The institute has its headquarters in Rome; there are eight offices around the world. Its professional staff collaborate with scientists in genebanks, research centres, universities and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations throughout the world.
The field of plant genetic resources has evolved rapidly over the last 20 years. In 1974, there were fewer than 10 fully functional plant genetic resources programmes; now, in part due to the continuing efforts of IBPGR, there are over 120 and the number is growing every year.
In many countries, IBPGR has encouraged the establishment of plant genetic resources programmes where none previously existed. It has raised general awareness of the issues related to plant genetic resources, which in turn has stimulated the demand for training and research, for technical publications, and for scientific assistance to national plant genetic resources programmes.
Since 1974, IBPGR has funded the training of nearly more than 1700 scientists and technicians throughout the world in all aspects of genetic resources work. The institute has been involved in the collecting of 200,000 samples of crops in 120 countries. In the area of research, the retention of diversity in collections, conservation technology and plant health are major topics, as are the wild relatives of crops, indigenous knowledge and forest genetic resources.
In the field of information technology, computerized data bases covering a wide range of topics have been developed by IBPGR. These data bases include information on national genetic resources programmes, ex situ germplasm collections worldwide, and germplasm collecting carried out with IBPGR support.
