• Authentication and establishment of genetic identity of clonal accessions through genetic fingerprinting.
• Classification and assessment of genetic diversity in the collection and description of patterns of distribution of variability within and between gene pools.
• Identification of deficiencies in collections and development of strategies to further enrich collections.
• Documentation, cataloguing, analyses, and effective presentation of data and results on the GRIN (Germplasm Research Information Network) and repository website in formats useful to germplasm users

 Technology and methods used to achieve the objectives:

Field evaluation of collections for morphological, phonological, and horticulturally useful traits. Biochemical and molecular characterization using PCR based markers such as microsatellites, AFLPs, and cpDNA sequences. Statistical analyses of data using univariate and multivariate methods. Photo documentation of accessions depicting horticulturally valuable traits.