Pollen and Pollinators Vital to Crop Diversity

In the recent International Pollination Symposium in Ames, Iowa, USA, Dr. Jan Engels, a senior scientist at Bioversity International, and Dr. Ehsan Dulloo suggested storing pollen as well as seeds for crop diversity conservation. Pollen is a good form in which genetic diversity can be transported safely around the world, because few diseases are transmitted through pollen. Though it can be difficult to collect and it carries only the male part of the genome, its benefits for rational conservation of crop diversity are great. "The other area where we really need pollen is in-situ conservation and the conservation of crop wild relatives," adds Engels. “But really, it is the pollinators we need.”

In-situ conservation takes place in farmers' fields and surrounding areas. It allows plants to continue to interact with their environment and thus allows their genes to continue evolving and adapting to changed circumstances. However, without the right pollinators, crops and wild relatives are not going to make nearly as many seeds, threatening their survival, according to Engels. “We have to maintain a diversity of other plants in the vicinity to provide pollinators with alternative food sources and other requirements.”

Read the press release at http://news.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?itemid=1826.