How uncertain policy regulations affect germplasm acquisition and distribution?

A study of the impact of the in-trust agreements demonstrated the importance of a clear legal environment for the genebanks. Requests for repatriation of rice germplasm from the International Rice Research Institute peaked in 1994, during the period of uncertainty. This coincided with a period of decline in acquisitions by the genebank. The signing of the in-trust agreements led to a significant decline in repatriation requests. The analysis suggests that the size of the IRRI rice collection could have continued to decline if it were not for the signing of the in-trust agreements. Results moreover confirm the central role of Bioversity and policy research in the negotiations process. Concepts developed during the ITA negotiations contributed towards subsequent multilateral negotiations that eventually culminated in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources

Livelihood implications of in situ conservation strategies of wild fruit tree species in Uzbekistan

Throughout 2006 and 2011, Bioversity International has been promoting the conservation and use of plant genetic diversity in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF).After 2013, an impact assessment study was carried out to examine whether the tangible benefits of the Bioversity International project were transferred at the household level, with specific emphasis on Uzbekistan, selected for the country relevance in terms of household characteristics and area covered by the project.In particular, the assessment focused on the effects of the interventions in the activity areas involving the enhancement of use and consumption of target fruits, as well as of their marketing value, to improve household food security and wellbeing

The scientific information activity of Bioversity International: the descriptor lists

Effective sharing of information about genetic resources depends on everyone using the same “dictionary” – which is where the descriptor lists published by Bioversity International and its partners come in. In a 2006 survey 90% or more of respondents stated that descriptor lists published by Bioversity and its partners had contributed to the development of genebank databases, increased uniformity of documentation, increased their ability to work with partners, increased efficiency in collection management, and facilitated data exchange. The utility of Bioversity’s descriptors was rated higher than those from other sources, including UPOV and USDA-GRIN, scoring an average of 3.3 on a 4-point scale. The most common constraint to using Bioversity descriptor lists was the lack of descriptors for a particular species of interest – highlighting the need for Bioversity’s continued involvement in developing additional descriptor lists

Ground water regimes containing country rock minerals in Southern Kuzbass (case study: Narysk-Ostashkin)

The paper describes the calculation results revealing groundwater in equilibrium to carbonates and aluminosilicate minerals of country rocks in Narysk-Ostashkinsk area. It was proved that groundwater is in nonequilibrium to primary (endogenous) minerals in which they dissolve, however are in equilibrium to clays and carbonates which precipitate in the groundwater. The groundwater composition varies

Hallmarks of mechanochemistry: From nanoparticles to technology

The aim of this review article on recent developments of mechanochemistry (nowadays established as a part of chemistry) is to provide a comprehensive overview of advances achieved in the field of atomistic processes, phase transformations, simple and multicomponent nanosystems and peculiarities of mechanochemical reactions. Industrial aspects with successful penetration into fields like materials engineering, heterogeneous catalysis and extractive metallurgy are also reviewed. The hallmarks of mechanochemistry include influencing reactivity of solids by the presence of solid-state defects, interphases and relaxation phenomena, enabling processes to take place under non-equilibrium conditions, creating a well-crystallized core of nanoparticles with disordered near-surface shell regions and performing simple dry time-convenient one-step syntheses. Underlying these hallmarks are technological consequences like preparing new nanomaterials with the desired properties or producing these materials in a reproducible way with high yield and under simple and easy operating conditions. The last but not least hallmark is enabling work under environmentally friendly and essentially waste-free conditions (822 references).Slovak Grant Agency VEGA 2/0009/11, 2/0043/11Slovak Agency for Science and Development APVV VV-0189-10, VV-0528-11Russian Foundation for Basic Research 10-03-00942a, 12-03-00651aMinistry of Science and Higher education in Poland CUT/c-1/DS/KWC/2008-2012, PB1T09B02330, NN209145136, NN20914893

The perceived impact of the In Trust Agreements on CGIAR germplasm availability: An assessment of Bioversity International’s institutional activities

This study assesses the generation and consequences of the In-Trust Agreements (ITAs) that established the legal status of the CGIAR germplasm as freely available for the benefit of humanity under the auspices of FAO. The analysis looks at the history of the ITAs and focuses on the role of Bioversity International in research and other activities in influencing, facilitating and enabling the ITA negotiations. Results confirm the central role of Bioversity and policy research in the negotiations process. Concepts developed during the ITA negotiations contributed towards subsequent multilateral negotiations that eventually culminated in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. (taken from publisher web site

An empirical assessment of the effects of the 1994 In Trust Agreements on IRRI germplasm acquisition and distribution

A study of the impact of the in-trust agreements demonstrated the importance of a clear legal environment for the genebanks. Requests for repatriation of rice germplasm from the International Rice Research Institute peaked in 1994, during the period of uncertainty. This coincided with a period of decline in acquisitions by the genebank. The signing of the in-trust agreements led to a significant decline in repatriation requests. The analysis suggests that the size of the IRRI rice collection could have continued to decline if it were not for the signing of the in-trust agreements. Results moreover confirm the central role of Bioversity and policy research in the negotiations process. Concepts developed during the ITA negotiations contributed towards subsequent multilateral negotiations that eventually culminated in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources

Guidelines and best practices for on-farm conservation projects: designing and evaluating interventions

The challenge of on-farm conservation projects is to identify, design and implement interventions that make the conservation of crop diversity compatible with improved livelihoods and well-being among the farmers who conserve it. The success of any on-farm conservation project depends on a good design that brings together four aspects: crop diversity; the private benefits associated with its use; the societal/public benefits associated with its maintenance; the interventions/innovations needed to link these three areas in a positive and coherent way. In this brief, the authors propose a set of guidelines and best practices for on-farm conservation projects for evaluating their effectiveness, based on the results of a McKnight Foundation-funded project – ‘Assessing the Success of On-Farm Conservation Projects in Delivering Conservation and Livelihood Outcomes: Identifying Best Practices and Decision Support Tools’. The project was coordinated and implemented by Bioversity International and carried out between March 2010 and May 2012 in the High Andes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru