Plant Introduction as a Federal Service to Agriculture

Current status of crop plant germplasm

“…Up to the mid-50s the Introduction Service had not been involved in either seed increase and renewal or long-term maintenance. 56 The concern over the loss of genetic stocks goes back to the 1932 Genetics Congress at …”

Maintenance of Clonal Plant Germplasm

“…A collection of plants with unique traits of potential value in crop production, like these Rubus species, is one objective of the Na tional Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). Other objectives include the maintenance, evalua tion, and distribution of such genetic stocks (germplasm) (2,3). Until recently, Rubus and most other clonally propagated crops were not maintained in NPGS collections.…”