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Protection and Breeding Plant Species All Biological Resources Are Treasures
As agricultural breeding improvement techniques have been continuously renovated, it seems that agricultural products with original tastes have gradually disappeared from the world just like wild animals and plants. Because local agricultural research institutes innovate new varieties every year, farmers can have a good harvest of farm products by using less agricultural chemicals.
Whether they quietly conserve numerous germplasm (genetic resources) of crops, livestock, aquatic or tree products, these centers function as "Noah's ark" of modern timesand protect the biological resources most needed by food and ecology that sustain human lives.
Agicultural species grown by people were all wild plants at the beginning, which are called primitive varieties. Germplasm centers collect and conserve these important species resources including individual, sperm, egg, cell line and DNA of primitive varieties for breeding and biological researches. When necessary, they are used to cultivate new varieties
In accordance with nutrition requirements and new modes of consumption management, The Council of Agriculture (COA) established a germplasm center in 1987 to conserve important genetic resources in Taiwan. There are two ways of conserving species: in situ conservation and ex situ conservation. Germplasm center falls in the category of ex situ conservation, which collects all species, including native varieties, improved local varieties as well as imported species and strains.
We all need healthy farm produce every day and let's take a look, from the viewpoint of sustainable ecology, at the germplasm banks established by agricultural agencies and the agricultural industries created by the genetic resources.