270 • Technologies To Maintain Biological Diversity 



ing international activity between and within 

 these categories of organisms varies consider- 

 ably. Major factors determining the level of at- 

 tention devoted to offsite maintenance include 

 economic importance, threat of loss, and abil- 

 ity to maintain viable collections offsite. 



Plant Diversity 



International programs and networks are 

 differentiated by the types of plants they deal 

 with. By far, the most developed institutions 

 are those concerned with major agricultural 

 plants. For the most part, these offsite collec- 

 tions are maintained in association with agri- 

 cultural research institutions. Concern over loss 

 of wild species of nonagricultural plants in their 

 natural habitats has prompted the establish- 

 ment of an international network of botanic in- 

 stitutions for preserving rare and endangered 

 species in living collections. 



The focus, extent, and effectiveness of inter- 

 national genebank efforts in recent years have 

 been largely shaped by International Agricul- 

 tural Research Centers (lARCs) supported by 

 the Consultative Group on International Agri- 

 cultural Research (CGIAR). This organization 

 was founded in 1971 and consists of donors that 

 fund a network of centers doing research on 

 increasing agricultural productivity, primarily 

 in developing countries (see table 10-3). Impe- 

 tus to form the group stemmed from early suc- 

 cesses of two institutes (later to become the first 

 members of the CGIAR system], the Interna- 

 tional Maize and Wheat Improvement Center 

 (better known by its Spanish acronym CIM- 

 MYT), and the International Rice Research In- 

 stitute (IRRI). Both programs were the out- 

 growth of research centers supported by the 

 Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. 



Financial obligations soon became too great 

 for the two U.S. foundations as budget costs 

 grew with the establishment of two more cen- 

 ters. The desire on the part of several interna- 

 tional development institutions, including FAO, 

 UNEP, and the World Bank, to expand the sys- 

 tem into a network of international centers led 

 to the formation of the CGIAR, supported by 

 a group of government and international donor 

 agencies. 



Table 10-3.— International Agricultural Research 



Centers Supported by the Consultative Group 



on International Agricultural Research 



CIAT — Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical 



Call, Columbia 

 CIMMYT— Centro internacional de Mejoramjento 

 de Maiz y Trigo 



Mexico City, Mexico 

 CIP —Centro Internacional de la Papa 



Lima, Peru 

 IBPGR —International Board for Plant Genetic Resources 



Rome, Italy 

 ICARDA —International Center for Agricultural Research 

 in the Dry Areas 



Aleppo, Syria 

 ICRISAT — International Crops Research Institute for the 

 Semi-Arid Tropics 



Hyderabad, India 

 IFPRI —International Food Policy Research Institute 



Washington, DC, U.S.A. 

 IITA —International Institute of Tropical Agriculture 



Ibadan, Nigeria 

 ILCA —International Livestocl< Centre for Africa 



Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 

 ILRAD —International Laboratory for Research on 

 Animal Diseases 



Nairobi, Kenya 

 IRRI —International Rice Research Institute 



Manila, Philippines 

 ISNAR —International Service for National Agricultural 

 Research 



The Hague, Netherlands 

 WARDA —West Africa Rice Development Association 



Monrovia, Liberia 



SOURCE: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, Summary 

 of International Agricultural Research Centers: A Study of Achieve- 

 ments and Potential (Washington, DC: 1985). 



Today, most CGIAR centers have specific 

 responsibilities in crop varietal development 

 and germplasm conservation, and in certain 

 cases serve as international base and active col- 

 lections for specific crops (see table 10-4). A 

 number of lARCs also operate outside the 

 CGIAR system, including several with respon- 

 sibilities for germplasm maintenance. This 

 group includes the International Soybean Pro- 

 gram in Urbana, Illinois and the Asian Vegeta- 

 ble Research and Development Center in Shan- 

 hua, Taiwan (18). 



The most prominent international institution 

 dealing with offsite conservation of plant ge- 

 netic diversity is IBPGR. Established in 1974 

 by CGIAR, it serves as a focal point for govern- 

 ments, foundations, international organiza- 

 tions, and individual researchers with interests 

 in maintaining genetic diversity of crop spe- 



