Generic European LR diversity in situ (on-farm) conservation strategy

In most European countries a rapid decline of agro-biodiversity is taking place. As far as the diversity of cultivated plants is concerned the decline is due mainly to a series of economic and institutional factors which have encouraged the spread of varieties that maximize productive efficiency within intensive farming systems. Traditional crop varieties, generally known as ‘landraces’ (LR) have been rapidly and widely substituted by modern varieties. However LR, have been continuously maintained by people within their local biological, cultural and socio-economic context and are an important fraction of agro-biodiversity. Those countries which are signatories of both the CBD and the International Treaty have an obligation and responsibility for LR conservation. The EC FPVII PGR Secure project aims are to develop conservation strategies for European crop wild relative (CWR) and landrace (LR) diversity and to enhance their use as a mean of underpinning European food security in the face of climate change. This deliverable reports the development of a European strategy for in situ conservation of LR for all crops.