Researcher –Honey Fe C. Gumay and Jose M. Remollo III (on-going)
Germplasm collection have provided original materials for plant breeding program and crop improvement. Because of their genetic diversity and possible occurrence of particular desirable genes, germplasm collection are useful targets to plant breeders. Recently, many of germplasm are being lost worldwide due to habitat destruction, invasion of foreign species, and reliance on fewer high yielding strains. Therefore, maintaining germplasm collection will be utilized based on its characters of immediate perceived value or its potential variation. Furthermore, it can also be used to better understand the properties and performance of the plants, particularly at the genomic level. Nowadays, counties all over the world have set up facilities for conservation, characterization and utilization of germplasm collections of various crops either directly or indirectly.
