Crop diversity is the foundation of our agricultural future, providing key traits to ensure continued production in a rapidly changing world.
The USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Genetic Resources (NLGRP) provides secure storage for plant and microbial genetic resources, providing both freezer (0oF, -18oC) and liquid nitrogen conditions. NLGRP is the secure back-up site for the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)—a vast collection with over 621,000 plant accessions representing over 16,800 species across 20+ locations. NLGRP also provides “black-box” (non-NPGS) storage for seed and microbe collections. With almost a million accessions, NLGRP preserves the world’s largest collection of plant and microbial genetic resources stored under one roof.
NLGRP plant research generates effective strategies and methods for improving the efficiency of managing and using crop diversity, so these precious resources are ready to meet agricultural challenges, here in the U.S. and around the world. NLGRP plant research programs currently have scientists devoted to materials maintained and stored as seeds or as clonally-propagated materials (most fruits, nuts, and some vegetables that are reproduced by grafting, cuttings, or other non-seed propagation methods). There is also an active genetics/genomics program that is cross-cutting across all propagule types.
Learn more about the National Plant Germplasm System.
