A look back at the technical workshops on Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) held on the 22nd and 23rd of October 2020 organised in the form of webinars.

24 Nov 20 Image

A look back at the technical workshops on Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) held on the 22nd and 23rd of October 2020 organised in the form of webinars.

On the 22nd and 23rd of October 2020, the first two technical workshops for stakeholders involved in the conservation and promotion of plant genetic resources were organised by the Secretariat of the PGR CTPS Section (CTPS: Permanent Technical Committee of Plant Breeding) in the form of interactive webinars. The aim of these workshops below described was to present the two main key axes developed within the framework of the PGR CTPS Section and to support the stakeholders involved in this process as closely as possible by answering their questions on these two topics:

  • How to obtain official recognition as “collection curator” of plant genetic resources Thursday 22nd of October 2020
  • How to add plant genetic resources to the National Collection 
    Friday 23rd of October 2020

Our webinars met considerable interest and we thank all those who participated in them. Around fifty stakeholders attended these two webinars, which were opened by Mariem Omrani, representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, with a reminder of the issues and regulations specific to each of the two proposed items.

Following the presentation of the regulatory component, a second, more technical part, presented by Audrey Didier, Technical Secretary of the CTPS Plant Genetic Resources Section, enabled the files, specific to each theme to be browsed in order to explain the expectations of the various elements requested and the elements available to applicants to help them to provide the requested elements.

Each part was followed by question-answer sessions. The webinars were recorded and the links will soon be made available for the participants. 

These webinars were generally well received by the actors, and they were also an opportunity for the actors themselves to express their feelings, their remarks and their additional questions about the approaches, the modalities of which were explained.

A satisfaction questionnaire was sent to participants at the end of each webinar. All the remarks made during these workshops and afterwards via the satisfaction questionnaire will be taken into account for the organisation of our next webinars or meetings.

Although the secretariat of the PGR CTPS Section has yet to make an effort to popularise the procedures, some fundamental questions were raised by stakeholders. These questions concerned in particular the rights and duties linked to the recognition of curators and the adding of resources into national collection, and the interest for a manager to integrate the national scheme and the involvement that this can have on the curators, particularly with regard to the provision of resources. A feedback of these questions will be reported to the PGR CTPS Section in order for members to incorporate them into their work.

These webinars are not intended to replace the stakeholders meetings that have been postponed due to the pandemic we are going through. These “face-to-face” meetings, which were favoured by the stakeholders, will have to be held in 2021 depending on the evolution of the sanitary situation. These days will also be an opportunity to return to certain subjects, including the implication of the plant health regulations on the management of plant genetic resource collections.

The RPG team remains at your disposal to answer your questions and to accompany you. (coordination.rpg@geves.fr)

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