Project Number: 1275-21000-227-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: May 02, 2008
End Date: May 01, 2013

Objective:
Expand support for foreign and domestic plant explorations, exchanges and associated benefit-sharing projects focused on acquiring wild relatives of crops and traditional landraces underrepresented in NPGS collections.

Approach:
Revise and distribute guidelines for plant exploration/exchange proposal preparation and exploration/exchange execution. Provide guidance to scientists on proposal preparation, trip planning, collecting permits, documentation of collections, collecting protocols, recommended equipment and other matters. Coordinate review of proposals and arrange for funding of approved explorations/exchanges. Communicate with foreign government authorities to negotiate terms on access to genetic resources. Identify specific projects to serve as benefit sharing for foreign explorations. Develop agreements, such as Material Transfer Agreements, with foreign governments to specify terms of access and benefit sharing. Assist explorers with complying with Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) plant import regulations. Coordinate introduction of material requiring quarantine with the APHIS Plant Germplasm Quarantine Program. Use the Plant Exploration Tracking System to track incorporation of collected germplasm into the NPGS, submission of reports, and entry of passport data into Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).