1. Theme 5 Closing Comments
Brainstorming, Future Activities

2. Theme 5 Brainstorming Session
Maintenance, distribution and
sustainability of germplasm products
produced in GCP Projects

3. Maintenance, distribution and
sustainability of germplasm products
 Long term maintenance and sustainability of
products
 Cataloguing indicates availability but does not
incorporate an explicit commitment to maintain a
product to the extent possible
 Tools, applications, markers, databases, etc can
reside on computers
 Responsibility for maintenance, updating and distribution
is still essential
 Germplasm particularly vulnerable to loss
 Recurrent costs for storage, maintenance and
distribution
 No explicit statement line in proposals or product
delivery plans to address the issue

4. Maintenance, distribution and
sustainability of germplasm products
 Post-delivery commitment or policies incorporating
mutually agreed upon principles and practices
needed
 Issues
 Contact continuity
 Maintenance continuity
 Sustainability
 Product potential
 Public interest
 Human and physical resources
 Infrastructure
 Cost and cost recovery

5. What kind of policies and assistance are needed to
ensure that – no matter how varied the origins –
important germplasm derived from projects will be
appropriately maintained and distributed?
 Options
 National gene banks
 Highly varied capability
 Will generally take breeding materials in variable
amounts
 Generally not suitable for storage of whole populations
or reliable distribution
 Resource limited
 Regional gene banks
 Capabilities varied but better resources
 Generally accept breeding materials
 Probably not suitable for population storage
 Should be assessed for distribution capabilities
 Will Diversity Trust provide more funding?

6. What kind of policies and assistance are needed to
ensure that – no matter how varied the origins –
important germplasm derived from projects will be
appropriately maintained and distributed?
 CG Center Banks
 Most capable of storing, maintaining, distributing important
breeding materials
 Highly varied policies for accepting breeding materials
 Need standard policy
 May have some clarification after CG reform completed
 Diversity Trust to provide funding for additional materials
 Undefined as to nature of these
 Will likely only admit the highest valued materials if
breeding materials accepted
 Some may require entrance through quarantine incurring
full cost recovery charge-back fees
 GCP “Finishing” funds could mitigate

7. What kind of policies and assistance are needed to ensure
that – no matter how varied the origins – important
germplasm derived from projects will be appropriately
maintained and distributed?
 Breeding programs
 Could maintain all materials
 Annual grow-outs
 Costs mount to carry along materials of limited value
to originating program
 Without proper storage facilities danger of loss
 Limited resources for long-term distribution
 Generally no resources for long-term storage backup
 Storage resources generally suitable only for short-
term storage
 Limited space for populations

8. What kind of policies and assistance are needed to
ensure that – no matter how varied the origins –
important germplasm derived from projects will be
appropriately maintained and distributed?
 All options have disadvantages as well as
advantages
 Overall best option is CG Centers Banks
 But how to submit breeding materials
 Criteria not established
 Volume
 Kinds
 Will need a plan for proposal
 Volume
 Value
 Without CG Center Bank option will need Plan B
 Maintenance in breeding programs, banks available

9. What kind of policies and assistance are needed to
ensure that – no matter how varied the origins –
important germplasm derived from projects will be
appropriately maintained and distributed?
 Best materials should be backed up as much as
possible
 Program
 National/regional bank
 CG Bank/program
 Question is distribution
 Storage of backup relatively easy
 Distribution remains question
 How much is enough?
 Others maintained by programs and to the extent
possible in local/regional banks
 Distribution contact critical
 Time period

10. Planning
 Preferred
 Center Gene Banks accept breeding line (including
high value populations) submissions
 Most populations maintained
 Conditions of entry defined
 Likely to vary considerable
 Not all would be admitted
 Plan B
 Rely on status quo
 Center Gene Banks do not accept breeding line
submissions
 Maintenance in breeding programs and local
arrangements
 Finishing funds
 Define need

11. Planning
 Inventory of resources that will be produced
 Assessing value of material
 Time required for maintenance to ensure that potential is not lost
 Background dataset
 Impact potential
 Years
 Traits
 Assessing requirement for maintenance, sustainability
 Resources
 Cost
 Proposal (white paper) to make case
 Center Gene Banks
 Regional networks
 Diversity Trust?

12. Are charge-back programs for germplasm
requests an appropriate means of cost-
recovery and sustainability assistance?
 Generally acceptable, but:
 Depends on source of request
 Developed vs developing countries
 From developing countries charge-back may go
to government rather than specific program
negating cost-recovery
 Two charge-back levels necessary; single
fee may be inhibitory to requests from
developing countries

13. Looking Ahead
 Assessment of sustainability needs of all
products: Post-GCP plans
 Continuity of maintenance still should be verified
 Publish on IBP portal
 Finish uploading RI project delivery plans
into web-based planner
 Open to view and comment by project partners
 Facilitate interaction, monitoring
 On-site visits to project locations as possible
 Entry of products to new catalogue
 Continue verification process

14. Looking Ahead
 Participation in extensive survey of a wide
audience to determine what people now
envision the IBP to become
 How will the IBP fit in view of the CGIAR reform
 Necessary to construct a realistic business plan

15. Looking Ahead
 Updating IBP Business Plan
 First presented at IBP launch Feb 2010
 Focus on services
 Must now find a niche within new framework of
CRPs or an alternative
 Focus on capacity building, CoP?
 Build a new community within the IBP
 Focus and strengthening partnerships to facilitate
capacity building activities and molecular
breeding tool use within the framework of IBP
 More attention to implementation and operations