Every year , the world commemorate around USD 220 billion worth of annual world-wide economic losses due to legal injury to plants and crops from invasive pest species . The International Day of Plant Health under the radical " Plant wellness , safe trade and digital technology " advocates select clear action to keep plant life healthy , and ensure food guard and safe trade wind for sustainable economies and livelihoods .
" Raising awareness at a orbicular floor to maintain germplasm and elevate exchange for current and next use is all-important to fighting climate challenge , malnutrition , and solid food insecurity " , says Dr. Safaa Kumari , Plant Virologist and Head of ICARDA ’s Seed Health Laboratory .
Dr. Kumari is one of the author of a novel enquiry paper highlight how ICARDA is strain to safeguard plant life wellness in stemma with international regulations to keep the facing pages of pests and pathogens and enhance crop improvement crusade .
furnish Pest - Free SeedsCollecting and store germplasm derive with a risk of exposure of garnering and spreading pathogen . To serve mitigate this risk , ICARDA , through its genebank system , is a cardinal global leader in setting standard for the safe accumulation , preservation , regeneration and distribution of elect stock breeder seed to partners . turn alongside global networks to pull together , preserve , duplicate , and train full of life genetic resources to protect agrobiodiversity in dry regions , the ICARDA genebank contains around 143,000 sampling of major winter cereal , solid food leguminous plant , pasturage , and rangeland species .
Through its International Nursery ( IN ) platform and Seed Health Laboratory ( SHL ) with facilities in Lebanon and Morocco , ICARDA works with partner res publica to ensure that only seminal fluid samples that satisfy international phytosanitary ( measures to check plant health and cleanliness ) pass first appearance requirement for ICARDA ’s research , as well as national and international collaborator . Upholding such strict regulations is vital in develop new , salubrious , and diverse craw varieties that can mitigate the impacts of accelerating clime modification .
The main objective of ICARDA ’s Seed Health Laboratory ( SHL ) , is to maintain the phytosanitary clean health position of germplasm – seeds , plant life , or plant role utile in crop breeding , research , and conservation efforts – during regeneration ( duplicate of seeds for base hit and research design ) , preservation and distribution . It help guarantee that all seeds and breeding material are tested for , and clean house from , storage pests , fungus , bacterium , viruses , roundworm , and parasitic locoweed ejaculate . ICARDA ’s SHL also inspects the isolation area or post - entry quarantine closing off areas to ensure no sponge are loaf in the shadows . In addition , any forthcoming seed is inspected in the field at dissimilar craw outgrowth stages by well - trained and certified personnel . A comprehensive review of cum health is then conducted before a phytosanitary certificate is write out . Furthermore , SHL coif for the proper software documentation , promotional material , and shipping of germplasm . Overall , these methods and procedures check that that ICARDA ’s incoming or forthcoming germplasm is free of quarantine pests to safeguard collaborator , and its own inquiry facilities , from the first appearance of pest .
The same procedures are used by ICARDA ’s SHL to duplicate our accession ( plant generic fabric ) across collaborator genebanks , including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault , to safeguard germplasm , for inquiry purpose , and to refill lost assenting . duplicate is also crucial to replace plant life losses due to unexpected shocks in countries , such as conflicts or natural disasters , and this ensures continuity across collaborating crop advance plan .
In full , ICARDA ’s SHL tests per year around 50,000 germ sample , cater clearance and support for secure germplasm drive . Over 70 countries receive ICARDA ’s germplasm each year through its international nursery platform and Genebank system , while in latitude , ICARDA receives seeds of cultivate and wild relatives of crop from research institutions in more than 50 different land .
To corroborate national and outside institutions , as well as enquiry organizations and Farmer to get at seeds among the 7.5 million varieties economize in over 1700 worldwide genebanks , ICARDA assist launch the Activated Genebank connection ( AGENT ) task in 2020 . Initially constitute a consortium of 15 genebanks and four genebank genomic core from Europe and the Middle East , the objective is to transform genebanks from storage adeptness into sophisticated bioinformatics resource center . Through harmonisation of monetary standard , accession compartmentalization , and expert terms , AGENT ’s finish is to establish a world - leading digital political program that facilitates standardised information exchange for the management of plant genetic resources .
Over Half a Million Samples TestedBetween 2018 and 2022 , ICARDA ’s SHL test 506,669 samples . Only 0.4 % of the 278,217 genebank samples were removed after being tested , and less than 0.8 % of the 228,452 genteelness sample for importation and export were found to be contaminated with pestilence .
Yet , in an effort to invariably meliorate accuracy and the speed of detection of existing and newly diagnosed pests and pathogens , ICARDA ’s SHL is currently developing raw nucleic acids - based detective work protocols for key out several pathogen that are hard to detect through conventional tests . Moreover , seven stock operating procedures have been developed , unified , and harmonized in Lebanon and Morocco to facilitate collaborations with the internal plant protective cover governing body and the International Plant Protection Convention . Finally , to relieve the traceability of stuff ' processing and real - time data solicitation and analyses , ICARDA ’s SHL is adopting a unexampled on-line system to automate seed wellness services .
As stated in the theme for Plant Health Day this class , Plants Are Life . It is up to inquiry constitution like ICARDA and other CGIAR centers , as well as global agri - science instauration , to verify that the flora we apply in research , and spill are sporting and detached from pest that can cause mass death of crops and economies . ICARDA ’s SHL ’s feat are stepping up to that chore .
rootage : icarda.org
