Fourteen Asian nations have come together in Thailand to share information about managing germ cell collections, covering genetic resources such as seeds or tissue that are maintained for the purposes of animal and plant breeding.

The international training workshop, organized by the Asian Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI), kicked off on Feb. 6 in Thailand, bringing together representatives from 14 member-countries. Some 26 experts from Korea, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam attended the event.

The workshop, taking place at the Thai Department of Agriculture, will run until Feb. 13. During the training period, there will be sessions on theories behind the collection, proliferation, and quality evaluation of germ cells, or germplasms. Practical training on growing tissue cultures and on managing breed quality will also be given. Some 18 lecturers from Korea, Thailand, Nepal and the Philippines will be giving the lectures.



"This year's training workshop will provide the opportunity to set up a management system for Asia's germplasm collections," said Director Lee Sok Young of the Rural Development Administration's Gene Bank. "With the database, we hope to safeguard and conserve the diversity of our living species," he said.

The Asian Food & Agriculture Cooperation Initiative was created in November 2009 as an inter-governmental cooperation body aiming to improve food production. Its goals are to realize sustainable agriculture across Asia by sharing information about agricultural technology, climate change and weather forecasts. The training workshop held this year in Thailand is in its fifth year.

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Rural Development Administration
hlee10@korea.kr