Abstract:

Through the development over the last 100 years, researches on crop germplasm resources have made a great progress globally. With the change of international social and political environments and the advance of science and technology, a series of new trends and features has emerged currently in the field of germplasm research, including more globalized germplasm collecting, diversified germplasm preservation and conservation, precise germplasm identification and evaluation, large-scale gene discovery, objective-guided germplasm enhancement, and active germplasm sharing etc. Great advances and breakthroughs in crop germplasm research have also been made in China since the 1950s. Species diversity of crop germplasm resources in China has been elucidated, and the system of technical specifications for germplasm classification, cataloguing and description has been established. A multi-dimensional germplasm conservation system coupling with the function of germplasm sharing has been set up, involving National Crop Germplasm Bank, National Crop Germplasm Duplicate Bank, national mid-term germplasm banks, national field germplasm banks, in-situ conservation sites, provincial germplasm banks etc. Precise germplasm identification and evaluation including phenotyping and genotyping for some important crops has been implemented in recent years, and gene discovery has also made a significant progress. Efficient germplasm enhancement has played an important role in crop breeding. In 2015, “Medium and Long-term Plan for Conservation and Utilization of Crop Germplasm Resources in China (2015-2030)” was issued, in which five actions in crop germplasm research was proposed, and it provides a strategic support to the development of the discipline of germplasm resources in the future.

Key words: Germplasm Resources, Crop, Advance, Trend