S4-05
Project for the Collection
and ex situ Conservation of
Wild Relatives of Cassava (Manihot
esculenta Crantz)
Morales,
Y.
Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza, Casilla 2241. Santa
Cruz, Bolivia.
ymorales@fan-bo.org
Interest in
the conservation of crop wild relatives and plants of economic interest
has increased considerably in the last several years, and has been
recognized as one of the priorities for the Leipig World Action Plan
(Germany, June 1996). Bolivia
has great genetic diversity and a wealth of genes from a large group of
wild species with economic value. These
include: cassava, peanuts, sweet potatoes, beans, palms, passifloras,
cacao and sugar cane. In
Bolivia, cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is mainly cultivated in four large
tropical zones: Pando-Beni, Yungas, Santa Cruz and the Chapare.
Morales did work related to the introduction and in
vitro conservation of the Bolivian cassava germplasm maintained at
El Vallecito and did other studies in determining the presence of
hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in local cassava varieties.
According to data registered in the Wild Crop Relatives database
maintained by the Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza, 14 species
recognized as wild relatives of the Manihot genus have been registered, all of which have complete
geographical reference data. Bolivia’s
natural ecosystems, where these crop wild relatives are found, are being
threatened by overgrazing, tree felling, the invasion of exotic species,
the oil industry and colonization, and it has become necessary to
conserve the wild relatives of this crop which is so important for
Bolivia, in order to have genetic material that can later be used in
cultivated species breeding projects.
The objective of the project is the collection and ex
situ conservation of the cassava wild relatives available in
Bolivia. The specific objectives are to collect wild cassava germplasm,
characterize the material gathered, establish a ex situ collection in order to have material available for research
and breeding projects, establish an active in
vitro collection of cassava wild relatives and generate a database
on accessions available within the germplasm bank.
|
