Misplaced Pages

#582417

54-427: Tremendous genetic variability exists in the local varieties ( landraces ) of crops and their closely related wild plants (crop wild relatives). The NPGS assists plant breeders and other research scientists by acquiring, conserving, evaluating, documenting, and distributing germplasm (seeds and other propagative material) of these plants, as well as of improved cultivars and breeding lines. This diverse germplasm provides

108-581: A breed-standard appearance but might have lost other useful characteristics and have developed undesirable traits linked to inbreeding. The ancient landrace dogs of the Fertile Crescent that led to the Saluki breed excels in running down game across open tracts of hot desert, but conformation -bred individuals of the breed are not necessarily able to chase and catch desert hares . Some standardized breeds that are derived from landraces include

162-403: A broader scale, New World populations derived from the founder stock of Colonial Spanish horse . The Yakutian and Mongolian Horses of Asia have "unimproved" characteristics. The standardized swine breeds named "Landrace" are often not actually landraces or derived from landraces. The Danish Landrace pig breed, pedigreed in 1896 from an actual local landrace, is the principal ancestor of

216-658: A centralized information management system, the Germplasm Resources Information Network ( GRIN ), beginning in the 1980s, which was made publicly accessible through the internet beginning in 1994. The overall legal framework for the NPGS was established as part of the U.S. National Genetic Resources Program, authorized by the U.S. Congress through the 1990 Farm Bill. The USDA-ARS National Germplasm Resources Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland

270-718: A dog landrace with a related standardized breed with a similar name is the collie . The Scotch Collie is a landrace, while the Rough Collie and the Border Collie are standardized breeds. They can be very different in appearance, though the Rough Collie in particular was developed from the Scotch Collie by inbreeding to fix certain highly desired traits. In contrast to the landrace, in the various standardized Collie breeds, purebred individuals closely match

324-415: A farmers' variety or cultivar . Traits from landraces are valuable for incorporation into elite lines . Crop disease resistance genes from landraces can provide eternally-needed resistances to more widely-used, modern varieties. Some standardized animal breeds originate from attempts to make landraces more consistent through selective breeding , and a landrace may become a more formal breed with

378-406: A focus on their production may result in missing out on some benefits afforded to producers of genetically selected and homogenous organisms, including breeders' rights legislation, easier availability of loans and other business services, even the right to share seed or stock with others, depending on how favorable the laws in the area are to high-yield agribusiness interests. As Regine Andersen of

432-457: A group. These characteristics are used by farmers to manage diversity and purity within landraces. In some cultures, the development of new landraces is typically limited to members of specific social groups, such as women or shaman. Maintaining existing landraces, like developing new landraces, requires that farmers be able to identify crop-specific characteristics and that those characteristics are passed on to following generations. Over time,

486-429: A landrace and a cultivar, may also include landraces when referring to plant varieties not subjected to formal breeding programs. A landrace native to, or produced for a long time within the agricultural system in which it is found is referred to as an autochthonous landrace , while a more recently introduced one is termed an allochthonous landrace . Within academic agronomy , the term autochthonous landrace

540-511: A landrace is a mixture of phenotypic forms despite relative outward uniformity, and a great adaptability to its natural and human environment. The word landrace entered non-academic English in the early 1930s, by way of the Danish Landrace pig , a particular breed of lop-eared swine. Many other languages do not use separate terms, like landrace and breed , but instead rely on extended description to convey such distinctions. Spanish

594-782: A landrace. General features that characterize a landrace may include: Landrace literally means 'country-breed' (German: Landrasse ) and close cognates of it are found in various Germanic languages . The first known reference to the role of landraces as genetic resources was made in 1890 at an agriculture and forestry congress in Vienna , Austria . The term was first defined by Kurt von Rümker in 1908, and more clearly described in 1909 by U. J. Mansholt, who wrote that landraces have more stable characteristics and better resistance to adverse conditions, but have lower production capacity than cultivars, and are apt to change genetically when moved to another environment. H. Kiessling added in 1912 that

SECTION 10

#1732791686583

648-565: A portfolio of landraces over time that have specific ecological niches and uses. Conversely, modern cultivars can also be developed into a landrace over time when farmers save seed and practice selective breeding . Although landraces are often discussed once they have become endemic to a particular geographical region, landraces have always been moved over long and short distances. Some landraces can adapt to various environments, while others only thrive within specific conditions. Self-fertilizing and vegetatively populated species adapt by changing

702-584: A result, a partnership between USDA and the State Agricultural Experiment Station (SAES) system was formed to establish Plant Introduction Stations at Ames, Iowa in 1948; Geneva, New York in 1948; Griffin, Georgia in 1949; and Pullman, Washington in 1952. The Inter-regional Potato Introduction Station (now the U.S. Potato Genebank) was established in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1949. The National Seed Storage Laboratory, now

756-547: A standardized or formal breed. Two approaches have been used to conserve plant landraces: As the amount of agricultural land dedicated to growing landrace crops declines, such as in the example of wheat landraces in the Fertile Crescent , landraces can become extinct in cultivation. Therefore ex situ landrace conservation practices are considered a way to avoid losing the genetic diversity completely. Research published in 2020 suggested that existing ways of cataloging diversity within ex situ genebanks fall short of cataloging

810-565: A strict programme of genetic isolation and formal artificial selection to achieve a particular phenotype." In various domestic species (including pigs, goats, sheep and geese) some standardized breeds include "Landrace" in their names, but do not meet widely used definitions of landraces. For example, the British Landrace pig is a standardized breed, derived from earlier breeds with "Landrace" names. Farmers' variety , usually applied to local cultivars, or seen as intermediate between

864-464: Is a successor to the original USDA Section of Seed and Plant Introduction and manages the current Plant Exploration and Exchange Program, as well as the GRIN information management system. The NPGS currently is composed of genebanks and support units at 20 locations around the U.S. Each genebank is responsible for a collection of a unique set of crops. Several other collections that are not formally part of

918-821: Is at the heart of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the "Plant Treaty" for short), under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), though its concerns are not exclusively limited to landraces. Landraces played a basic role in the development of the standardized breeds but are today threatened by the market success of the standardized breeds. In developing countries, landraces still play an important role, especially in traditional production systems. Specimens within an animal landrace tend to be genetically similar, though more diverse than members of

972-607: Is one such language. Geneticist D. Phillip Sponenberg described animal breeds within these classes: the landrace, the standardized breed, modern "type" breeds, industrial strains, and feral populations. He describes landraces as an early stage of breed development, created by a combination of founder effect , isolation, and environmental pressures. Human selection for production goals is also typical of landraces. As discussed in more detail in breed , that term itself has several definitions from various scientific and animal husbandry perspectives. Some of those senses of breed relate to

1026-698: Is sometimes used with a more technical, productivity-related definition, synthesized by A. C. Zeven from previous definitions beginning with Mansholt's: "an autochthonous landrace is a variety with a high capacity to tolerate biotic and abiotic stress, resulting in a high yield stability and an intermediate yield level under a low input agricultural system." The terms autochthonous and allochthonous are most often applied to plants, with animals more often being referred to as indigenous or native . Examples of references in sources to long-term local landraces of livestock include constructions such as "indigenous landraces of sheep", and "Leicester Longwool sheep were bred to

1080-656: The American Landrace (1930s). In this way, the Swedish Landrace is derived from the Danish and from other Scandinavian breeds, as is the British Landrace breed. Many standardized goose breeds named "Landrace", e.g. the Twente Landrace goose , are not actually true landraces, but may be derived from them. United States National Arboretum Too Many Requests If you report this error to

1134-805: The Dutch Landrace , Swedish Landrace and Finnish Landrace goats . The Danish Landrace is a modern mix of three different breeds, one of which was a "Landrace"-named breed. The wild progenitor of the domestic horse is extinct. It is rare for landraces among domestic horses to remain isolated, due to human use of horses for transportation, thus causing horses to move from one local population to another. The heavy 'draft' type of domestic horse, developed in Europe, has differentiated into many separate landraces or breeds. Examples of horse landraces also include insular populations in Greece and Indonesia, and, on

SECTION 20

#1732791686583

1188-602: The National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB, UK). However, more may need to be done, because plant genetic variety, the source of crop health and seed quality, depends on a diversity of landraces and other traditionally used varieties. Efforts (as of 2008 ) were mostly focused on Iberia , the Balkans , and European Russia , and dominated by species from mountainous areas. Despite their incompleteness, these efforts have been described as "crucial in preventing

1242-598: The Turkish Angora and Turkish Van breeds and their possible derivation from the Van cat landrace, the relationships are not entirely clear. Dog landraces and the selectively bred dog breeds that follow breed standards vary widely depending on their origins and purpose. Landraces are distinguished from dog breeds which have breed standards, breed clubs and registries. Landrace dogs have more variety in their appearance than do standardized dog breeds. An example of

1296-512: The genetic diversity of domesticated plant species lies in landraces and other traditionally used varieties. Some farmers using scientifically improved varieties also continue to raise landraces for agronomic reasons that include better adaptation to the local environment, lower fertilizer requirements, lower cost, and better disease resistance. Cultural and market preferences for landraces include culinary uses and product attributes such as texture, color, or ease of use. Plant landraces have been

1350-962: The Annual Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1900, the Section's job was "to bring into this country for experimental purposes any foreign seeds and plants which might give promise of increasing the value and variety of our agricultural resources." Material was acquired from several sources, including participants in U.S. naval expeditions, diplomatic officials stationed in foreign countries, other governments and private individuals. The Section also began an intensive program of plant exploration by employing agricultural explorers, who spent most of their time traveling to other countries to collect plant samples. Along with Fairchild, early notable USDA plant explorers included Frank N. Meyer , Niels E. Hansen , and Palemon Howard (P.H.) Dorsett . Many of

1404-565: The Fridtjof Nansen Institute (Norway) and the Farmers' Rights Project puts it, "Agricultural biodiversity is being eroded. This trend is putting at risk the ability of future generations to feed themselves. In order to reverse the trend, new policies must be implemented worldwide. The irony of the matter is that the poorest farmers are the stewards of genetic diversity." Protecting farmer interests and protecting biodiversity

1458-560: The International Agricultural Congress, organized by the predecessor of the FAO, an extensive discussion was held on the need to conserve landraces. A recommendation that members organize nation-by-nation landrace conservation did not succeed in leading to widespread conservation efforts. Landraces are often free from many intellectual property and other regulatory encumbrances. However, in some jurisdictions,

1512-465: The NPGS also make material available for distribution through GRIN. The number of living, active accessions in the NPGS typically increases by several thousand annually and is currently nearing 600,000. The NPGS includes more than 15,000 species of plants, both sexually and asexually propagated, and represents one of the world's largest and most diverse living collections of plants curated by a single organization. New plant material continues to be added from

1566-617: The NPGS were established gradually over many decades.The U.S. National Arboretum began operation in Washington, D.C. in 1927. The National Small Grains Collection was officially organized in 1948 in Beltsville, Maryland (later moved to Aberdeen, Idaho). Creation of other components of the system were enabled by the Research and Marketing Act of 1946. The Act provided the legal basis for federal-state cooperation in managing crop and livestock genetic resources and conducting research. As

1620-419: The NPGS. The Section was also in charge of distributing the introduced plant material for evaluation and potential incorporation into U.S. agricultural production. Initially, the introduced material went to State Agricultural Experiment Stations or other reliable cooperators for testing. The need for facilities to test lesser known crops and later to quarantine plants to prevent introduction of plant pests led to

1674-588: The National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (NLGRP), in Fort Collins, Colorado was completed in 1958 to provide backup conservation and long-term storage of seeds and, more recently, clonal plant material. The NLGRP serves as a key component of the U.S. National Genetic Resources Program by housing the animal germplasm collection, and providing a backup site for plant and microbial collections. This ARS location also conducts research on

National Plant Germplasm System - Misplaced Pages Continue

1728-518: The Section also began fulfilling foreign and domestic requests for plant materials curated in the U.S. that were needed for research. This distribution mission remains a primary objective of the NPGS today, with about 250,000 samples being supplied annually to global plant breeders and other research scientists. Over the decades, germplasm exchange between countries has formed the basis for bilateral and multilateral collaborations involving training and research that benefit all parties. The other elements of

1782-622: The U.S. Between 1836 and 1862 the U.S. Patent Office, first under the State Department and then under the Department of the Interior, administered a plant exploration and introduction program funded through yearly appropriations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was established in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Department of Agriculture Organic Act into law. One of the Department's seven main responsibilities

1836-528: The U.S. eventually led the federal government to adopt a role in the introduction of and exploration for plant material, which had previously been spearheaded by individuals and agricultural societies. The history of federal plant introduction and exploration in the U.S. has been reviewed in numerous publications. In 1819, The Secretary of the Treasury issued a circular requesting that consuls stationed in other countries obtain seed of useful plants and send them to

1890-498: The appropriate information for landrace crops. An in situ conservation effort to save the Berrettina di Lungavilla squash landrace made use of participatory plant breeding practices in order to incorporate the local community into the work. Preservation efforts for cereal strains are ongoing including in situ and in online-searchable germplasm collections ( seed banks ), coordinated by Biodiversity International and

1944-410: The concept of landraces. A Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) guideline defines landrace and landrace breed as "a breed that has largely developed through adaptation to the natural environment and traditional production system in which it has been raised." This is in contrast to its definition of a standardized breed : "a breed of livestock that was developed according to

1998-442: The cornerstone of global efforts to ensure food security in the face of significant challenges posed by threats to crop production. Landrace A landrace is a domesticated , locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism , and due to isolation from other populations of

2052-742: The creation of a breed registry or publication of a breed standard . In such a case, one may think of the landrace as a "stage" in breed development. However, in other cases, formalizing a landrace may result in the genetic resource of a landrace being lost through crossbreeding . While many landrace animals are associated with farming, other domestic animals have been put to use as modes of transportation, as companion animals , for sporting purposes, and for other non-farming uses, so their geographic distribution may differ. For example, horse landraces are less common because human use of them for transport has meant that they have moved with people more commonly and constantly than most other domestic animals, reducing

2106-453: The establishment of Federal Plant Introduction Gardens. The first such garden was established in Miami, Florida in 1898, followed by notable gardens at Chico, California in 1904, Savannah, Georgia in 1919, and Glen Dale, Maryland in 1919. Although these gardens propagated, tested and distributed promising plant materials, they were not intended for long-term maintenance. Early in its history,

2160-424: The extinction of many of these local ecotypes". An agricultural study published in 2008 showed that landrace cereal crops began to decline in Europe in the 19th century such that cereal landraces "have largely fallen out of use" in Europe. Landrace cultivation in central and northwest Europe was almost eradicated by the early 20th century, due to economic pressure to grow improved, modern cultivars. While many in

2214-418: The frequencies of phenotypes. Outbreeding crops absorb new genotypes through intentional and unintentional hybridization, or through mutation. A clear example of vegetal landrace would consist in the diverse adaptations of wheat to differential artificial selection constraints. Members of a landrace variety, selected for uniformity with regards to a unique feature over a period of time, can be developed into

National Plant Germplasm System - Misplaced Pages Continue

2268-729: The genetic raw material needed by plant breeders to develop new varieties of crops that have desirable qualities and can withstand constantly changing biological and environmental stresses. Conservation and use of this genetic diversity are critical to meeting the current and future challenges to global food security . Before the Americas were colonized by Europeans, native peoples domesticated indigenous plants including corn, squash and beans and spread them to new agricultural environments. European colonists adopted some crops from Native Americans and introduced others. As demand by farmers and hobbyists for expansion and diversification of agriculture in

2322-400: The incidence of populations locally genetically isolated for extensive periods of time. Many standardized breeds have rather recently (within a century or less) been derived from landraces. Examples, often called natural breeds , include Arabian Mau , Egyptian Mau , Korat , Kurilian Bobtail , Maine Coon , Manx , Norwegian Forest Cat , Siberian , and Siamese . In some cases, such as

2376-486: The introductions brought to the U.S. by the USDA plant explorers led to establishing new or improved crops in the country. Special agent O.F. Cook in the Section initiated the system of assigning sequential Plant Introduction (PI) numbers to samples acquired by the Section and issuing the printed USDA Plant Inventories that documented them. These PI numbers continue to be assigned to material that enters into long-term curation by

2430-647: The long-term cryopreservation of agriculturally important genetic resources, and coordinates U.S. contributions to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault . The present NPGS emerged in 1974 as a national program for germplasm after a restructuring of ARS. The cotton and soybean germplasm collections were consolidated into genebanks in College Station, Texas and Peoria, Illinois, respectively, in the 1970s, and nine additional genebank sites curating primarily clonally-propagated crops began operation in

2484-711: The mid-1980s. More recent additions to the NPGS are the National Arid Land Plant Genetic Resources Unit in Parlier, California (1996) and the Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center in Columbus, Ohio (2001). The original Plant Introduction Gardens were deemed unnecessary and decommissioned after the genebank sites were established. Paper records and inventories from USDA genebanks were consolidated into

2538-644: The native landraces of the region". Some usage of autochthonous does occur in reference to livestock, e.g. "autochthonous races of cattle such as the Asturian mountain cattle – Ratina and Casina – and Tudanca cattle." A significant proportion of farmers around the world grow landrace crops . However, as industrialized agriculture spreads, cultivars , which are selectively bred for high yield, rapid growth, disease and drought resistance, and other commercial production values, are supplanting landraces, putting more and more of them at risk of extinction . In 1927 at

2592-432: The ongoing USDA Plant Exploration and Exchange Program, as well as from public and private sector donors in the U.S. and globally. Distributions are made to plant breeders and other researchers around the world. Crop Germplasm Committees composed of experts on genetic resources of specific crops provide input to the NPGS on acquisition and genebank curation issues. The NPGS is an important U.S. living scientific collection, and

2646-402: The process of identifying the distinguishing characteristic or features of a new landrace is reinforced by cultivation processes; for example, descendants of a plant that is notably drought tolerant may become iteratively more so through selective breeding as farmers regard it as better for dry areas and prioritize planting it in those locations. This is one way in which farming systems can develop

2700-509: The region are already extinct, some have survived by being passed from generation to generation, and have also been revived by enthusiasts outside Europe to preserve European agriculture and food culture elsewhere. These survivals are usually for specific uses, such as thatch , and traditional European cuisine and craft beer brewing. The label landrace includes regional cultigens that are genetically heterogeneous , but with enough characteristics in common to permit their recognition as

2754-445: The species. Landraces are distinct from cultivars and from standard breeds . A significant proportion of farmers around the world grow landrace crops , and most plant landraces are associated with traditional agricultural systems. Landraces of many crops have probably been grown for millennia. Increasing reliance upon modern plant cultivars that are bred to be uniform has led to a reduction in biodiversity , because most of

SECTION 50

#1732791686583

2808-477: The specific criteria which describe landraces, although there is broad consensus about the existence and utility of the classification. Individual criteria may be weighted differently depending on a given source's focus (e.g., governmental regulation , biological sciences , agribusiness , anthropology and culture, environmental conservation , pet -keeping and -breeding , etc.). Additionally, not all cultivars agreed to be landraces exhibit every characteristic of

2862-662: The subject of more academic research, and the majority of academic literature about landraces is focused on botany in agriculture , not animal husbandry . Animal landraces are distinct from ancestral wild species of modern animal stock, and are also distinct from separate species or subspecies derived from the same ancestor as modern domestic stock. Not all landraces derive from wild or ancient animal stock; in some cases, notably dogs and horses, domestic animals have escaped in sufficient numbers in an area to breed feral populations that form new landraces through evolutionary pressure . There are differences between authoritative sources on

2916-428: Was the collection, testing and distribution of seeds and plants. The Department was headed by a Commissioner until 1889 when it was elevated to Cabinet rank and the first Secretary of Agriculture was appointed. In 1898, a formal program of plant introduction was initiated with the establishment of the Section of Seed and Plant Introduction in USDA under the direction of noted plant explorer David Fairchild . According to

#582417