Since most of the collections and reproductions date back approximately 15 years, a transfer of the material, along with a simultaneous detailed description according to international guidelines, is essential. The objectives are consistent with those of the Global Plan of Action (unanimously adopted by all FAO member states at the 4th FAO Technical Conference in Leipzig in 1996): conservation of plant genetic resources for agriculture for continued use.
The preservation serves three components:
1. plant breeding
2. direct use or return to agriculture
3. For scientific purposes.
Continued use means providing a reservoir of genetic resources for agriculture and breeding, but also enabling the further development of agriculture with broad biological diversity of varieties and species in order to secure food supplies (in terms of yield, quality, resistance, adaptation to given or changing climatic and environmental conditions, etc.). An important aspect of this is maintaining the stability of the ecosystem, of which agriculture is a part.
