News from the CTPS “Ornamental, Perfume, Aromatic & Medicinal Plants” section

26 Oct 21 Image

News from the CTPS “Ornamental, Perfume, Aromatic & Medicinal Plants” section

The ‘Ornamental, Perfume, Aromatic & Medicinal Plants’ section (POPAM) was held on 8 October at GEVES in Brion.  The section members focused on prioritising actions to be implemented within this section as part of the revised Seeds and Plants for Sustainable Agriculture plan (SPSA 2). Additionally, the project « Harnessing molecular data to support DUS testing in ornamentals: a case-study on Hydrangea »  and the work of the CTPS Plant Genetic Resources section were presented. A visit of the DUS collections and trials closed this meeting under a beautiful sunshine. 

During this meeting, the members of the section were informed of the SPSA 2 plan, and after discussion on the implementation of this plan within the POPAM Section, they defined four actions: 

  1. How to enhance the value of the research effort and what added-value to give to this research effort  
  2. Sustainable management of species in situ (wild diversity: conservation and management of threatened species)  
  3. Use of Molecular Biology  
  4. Communication to the general public 

 

The « Harnessing molecular data to support DUS testing in ornamentals: a case-study on Hydrangea », led by GEVES in collaboration with the Bundessortenamt (German office) and INRAE, was presented. This 18-month project should start in spring 2022 and aims to use molecular biology techniques to optimise and secure the management of the reference collection and DUS trials on this species. 

 A presentation of the work of the CTPS Plant Genetic Resources section provided a better understanding of the issues for the section through the focus on POPAM and the various similarities between these two sections. In addition, the section was informed of (i) the opening in October 2021 of a new call for applications in the framework of the “support fund for resources maintained in situ and collections” of the Ministry of Agriculture and (ii) the launch of a survey aimed at stakeholders involved in the conservation and development of POPAM. 

 At the end of this section meeting, the members were able to discover the new infrastructures of GEVES in Brion, as well as the national reference collections of various genera and species and the Distinctness-Uniformity-Stability (DUS) tests in place.

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