With the world’s population rising and an unacceptably high number of people living in poverty—especially in the world’s dry marginal areas—plant breeders are under increasing pressure to produce a steady stream of improved crop varieties that yield well, have good quality, and resist diseases, insects, and other stresses. To do this, breeders need to tap the genes found in ancient crop cultivars and their wild relatives. Central Asia and Trans-Caucasus (CAC)—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—is the center of origin and diversity of many of the world’s important crop plants. Unsustainable farming systems and environmental deterioration, however, are causing widespread genetic erosion. Efforts to tackle the problem are hampered by the region’s tumultuous transition from being a collection of Soviet satellite states to a region of independent republics. The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) are committed to facilitating the emergence of national and regional programs capable of collecting, conserving, documenting, and utilizing the rich but endangered genetic resources in the CAC. This webpage describes some of the plant genetic resource initiatives in the region, and highlights an ICARDA-led initiative to develop genetic resources units in each of the eight CAC republics.

Please note that this web site has been designed for a resolution of 1024x768 and is better viewed with this screen setting.