Ex-situ conservation of PGR in the National seed genebank of Bulgaria - past, present and future

Gergana Desheva, Evgenia Valchinova, Manol Deshev

Abstract: The ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources in seed genebank plays an important role for food security in the future. The National Genebank of Bulgaria is located on the territory of the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources “K. Malkov” - Sadovo. It was built in 1984 and carry out a scientific program for long-term preservation of germplasm with seeds under controlled conditions in accordance with the standards, developed by FAO. The total number of registered accessions in the Genebank is above 60 000, where 44572 are preserved in the base collection. These accessions are representatives of 32 families, 150 genera, 600 plant species. Total 10 193 of the accessions originated from Bulgaria. The accessions received abroad originated from more than 80 countries. Germplasm material consists of: local population, old cultivars, advanced varieties, breeding lines. The genetic stocks are available for research and for plant breeding, further utilization by international and regional co-operation, free exchange of plant genetic resources according to CBD and conditions contained in the standard material transfer agreement.

Keywords: documentation; ex- situ conservation; genebank; maintain; PGR

Date published: 2022-12-16