Conserving genetic resources for agriculture: economic implications of emerging science
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Conserving genetic resources for agriculture: economic implications of emerging science Douglas Gollin1 Received: 4 February 2020 / Accepted: 22 April 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract New challenges have arrived for the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Increased pressure on the environment, including the added threat of climate change, has had adverse effects on biodiversity and agricultural systems. Emerging science and new technologies have at the same time altered the scope of possibilities for collection, conservation, and utilization of genetic resources for agriculture. Taken together, these changes imply a need for a refocusing of global strategies for the management of genetic resources for agriculture. This paper argues that simple theoretical models provide relatively little guidance for key questions about genebank management. The fundamental uncertainty of scientific possibility and global futures makes it challenging – and perhaps futile – to attempt economic valuation of gene banks. A more useful application of economic tools will be in the prioritization of collection and conservation. Economic analysis may also offer useful insights into the efficient management of genetic resources. Keywords Genebank · Genetic resources · Economics · Valuation · Science
Introduction and background From the earliest domestication of plants and animals to the present, agriculture has depended on the movement, management, and manipulation of genetic resources. However, the conservation of genetic diversity offers a potentially significant example of market failure. Farmers choose crop varieties and animal breeds in response to their own incentives. Their decisions do not account for the embedded public goods. As a result, the public sector has been closely involved in the conservation and management of genetic resources for agriculture, dating back as far as the establishment of botanic gardens in the 18th century. In recent years, new challenges have arrived for the conservation of useful genes for agriculture. Increased pressure on global land resources has created a broad threat to biodiversity, and within agricultural systems, production pressures continue to drive out traditional varieties, landraces, and
Douglas Gollin
[email protected] 1
Oxford Department of International Development, Oxford University, 3 Mansfield Road, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford OX1 3TB, England
other genetic resources with potential future value. Climate change poses further threats to biodiversity, altering the habitats and ecosystems that support many crop wild relatives. At the same time, shifting technologies have allowed for new ways of collecting and conserving genetic resources; in addition to in situ collections of plants and animals, and beyond collections of seeds in cold stores, there are now a variety of cryopreservation techniques, and the unit of conservation can include semen, blood, eggs (in some cases), embryos and a range of tissues, as well as extrac
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