Impact in Training and Diffusion of Results
by the Genetic Resources Program *
J. Martínez R., E. Urquijo, A. Caldas & D.G. Debouck 1
Eco- Efficient Agriculture for the Poor
1 Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, Cali, Colombia
Introduction
Spain, 1
The genebank today within the Genetic Resources Program of CIAT was formally established in
Belgium, 1
mid 1978 by the Board and Directors as a research support unit, and with a mandate to have United Kingdom, 3
available at any time the variability existing in the world collections of beans, tropical pastures Colombia, 52
and cassava. For being less studied crops, the Genetic Resources Program, while it assembles the
Ireland, 1
collections, today the biggest in size and diversity for each crop commodity, has to establish the
methodologies and to improve conservation technologies for each collection. Germany, 2
Mexico, 1
To develop the Science of Conservation for each group of conserved materials has not been
exclusive of the Genetic Resources Program of CIAT. Many laboratories and storage facilities USA, 1
throughout the tropical world have had a similar experience, as plant species to conserve were
often poorly known. Therefore, this experience has led to several opportunities for training and France, 2
exchange of information and results.
Figure 1. Statistics about thesis works in the period 1988-2009
Results and Discussion
Gradually, the Genetic Resources Program has developed its training and dissemination of results The effect of “proximity” can also be seen in Table 2, where cases of personal training are
through: i) formal training ii) customized and specialized training, iii) advice to or supervision of reported. The institutions of CIAT host country and neighboring countries have sent some of
thesis work, iv) conferences, v ) posters and publications in journals, book chapters, conference their Professionals to be trained in the Genetic Resources Program in: seed conservation and
proceedings, etc (Table 1). The dissemination of research results is a powerful tool for improving monitoring of viability, conservation and management of in vitro cassava germplasm, indexing
the conservation of plant genetic resources, as highlighted in the Global Plan of Action of FAO of diseases for the safe germplasm exchange, biochemical and molecular markers for keeping
(1996), and therefore, it has been at an early stage a pool of activities of the Genetic Resources germplasm genetic quality.
Program.
Table 1. Statistics of training and diffusion of results period 1988-2009 Table 2. Personalized training: statistics for the period 1996-2009
Year Courses Specialized training Supervised thesis Publications Conferences Country 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total
Argentina 2 3 1 1 7
1988 0 3 2 5 1 Belgium 1 1
1989 0 5 1 11 1 Bolivia 1 1 2
1990 0 2 2 14 4 Brazil 1 1 2
1991 2 3 7 21 4 Canada 1 1
Chile 1 1
1992 3 15 4 20 5
China 1 1 1 1 2 6
1993 0 3 2 10 9 Colombia 12 6 7 21 7 14 4 5 9 6 8 8 13 120
1994 9 24 5 15 14 Costa Rica 2 2 1 5
1995 5 4 4 12 12 Cuba 2 1 1 4
Dominican Republic 2 2
1996 3 7 6 9 10
Ecuador 2 2 1 3 4 1 2 15
1997 4 26 5 7 3
El Salvador 1 1
1998 2 9 4 9 3 Spain 2 1 3
1999 5 11 1 16 8 France 1 1 1 3
2000 2 27 4 14 16 Germany 1 1 2
Ghana 1 1
2001 2 9 3 9 4
Guatemala 1 1
2002 5 16 2 16 11 Haiti 1 1 2
2003 5 12 2 12 10 Jamaica 1 1
2004 4 9 3 20 18 Japan 1 1
2005 3 35 2 15 15 Mexico 1 1 2 3 1 2 10
Netherlands 1 1 2
2006 1 10 2 11 7
Nicaragua 2 4 1 7
2007 0 20 2 14 15 Nigeria 1 2 2 5
2008 0 17 0 20 10 Panama 3 3
2009 0 17 1 10 8 Peru 2 5 7
Total 55 284 64 290 188 St. Vincent & the Granadines 1 1
Tanzania 1 1
Thailand 2 1 3
Formal courses are often organized at international level at the request of a group of USA 1 1
conservation Professionals who need a direct experience, especially in a genebank. Usually, they Venezuela 1 1 1 1 4
include a theoretical background and practice in the laboratories. The specialized trainings are Total 7 26 9 11 27 9 16 12 9 35 10 20 17 17 225
given at the request of a person who wants to know more about a conservation technology. The
supervision of thesis work comes from the meeting of interests where the student, the The Genetic Resources Program and Biotechnology Research Unit have undertaken since 2005
University department and the Genetic Resources Program agree on a research topic that serves to date eight events of Open House, serving more than 900 students from universities and
for the original dissertation. colleges in Colombia. These Open House events provide some representatives of Colombian
society, with explanations about the research going on at CIAT in the fields of applied biology,
Training events presented in Table 1 allow the following comments. The number of courses and namely in the conservation of natural resources, sustainable agricultural production and
the remarkable variation of customized training largely reflect the difficulty of financing these improvement of human nutrition.
training events from special research projects, where training is not always the high priority. It is
noteworthy that in many cases the institutions themselves have financed the training of their
professionals. A new method of training has been the remotely virtual course through an Literature Cited
electronic platform. The number of theses supervised reflects in a way this convergence of Anonymous. 1996. Global Plan of Action, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Roma, Italy.
interests of joint research, within the service work towards the germplasm collections held in
trust by the Genetic Resources Program.
There is a clear effect of “proximity" in the figures of Table 1, with a benefit for the institutions
Acknowledgement
of the host country of CIAT: Colombia. An indication of this trend can be seen in Figure 1: the These activities were possible thanks to the CIAT core budget, the Organization of American States, the Ministry
thesis work supervised by Professionals from the Program, where Colombian institutions have of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia. The help of Camilo Oliveros at CIAT in the preparation of
found subjects more sustained over the time. A financial factor might play as well, as grants for this poster has been highly appreciated.
experimental work in CIAT may be more limited. * Poster presented at the Visit Convention on Biological Diversity, CIAT, Palmira, Colombia, 25 March 2010.