Useful links

Report of the ECPGR Network Coordinating Groups.
First Meeting,
29-31 March 2006, Bonn, Germany
[PDF file 566KB]

Minutes of the Sugar, Starch and Fibre Crops NCG and database managers.
Technical Meeting,
27-29 July 2005, Braunschweig, Germany
[PDF file 137KB]
Meeting presentations

Working Groups

Beta

Fibre Crops
(Flax and Hemp)

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Potato

Latest news

Background information

Latest news

During the tenth meeting (mid-term of Phase VII) of the ECPGR Steering Committee held in Latvia, September 2006, it was decided to move the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) WG from the Vegetables Network to the Sugar, Starch and Fibre Crops Network.

Background information

The Sugar, Starch and Fibre Crops Network was established at the end of Phase VI of ECPGR, repealing the Industrial Crops and Potato Network. It comprises of the three Working Groups (WG) on: Beta, Potato, and Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp), which became operational in 1999, 2000 and 2003, respectively.

A meeting of the Network Coordinating Group has taken place in Braunschweig, Germany, on 28 July 2005. It involved database managers for a technical discussion on the data models for flax and hemp. See:
Presentations given during the Braunschweig meeting

A meeting of the ECPGR Network Coordinating Groups took place in Bonn, Germany, on 29-31 March 2006. See:
Report of the ECPGR Network Coordinating Groups. First Meeting, 29-31 March 2006, Bonn, Germany.
Presentations given during the NCGs meeting

The Network is overseen by a Network Coordinating Group (NCG), composed of the Working Group Chairs plus a number of other coopted Network members.

The responsibilities of the Network Coordinating Group are:

• To formulate proposals, in consultation with the WG members, for the attention of the ECPGR Steering Committee on WG priorities and activities related to the situation of the industrial crops and potato genetic resources in Europe, following the planning and prioritizing mechanism established by the SC

• To define the WGs to remain prioritized during the 5-year Phase, according to the planning and prioritizing mechanism established by the SC

The NCG is also considered the preferred forum for first level interaction with other regional or global initiatives within the industrial crops and potato. It should establish a permanent channel of communication with the genetic resources working groups of the FAO/ESCORENA European Cooperative Research Network on Flax and other Bast Plants and cotton, with the objective to identify areas of collaboration.
Other areas are considered suitable for improved interaction and collaboration, i.e. on data documentation and GIS applications, in situ / on-farm management, collecting activities and pre-breeding of vegetable beets.

Unlike most of the crop oriented Networks the Sugar, Starch and Fibre Crops Network is composed of very different genera. The Working Groups focus therefore on exchange of ideas and experiences on methodologies of mutual interest such as database design, identification of duplicates, safety duplication, quality standards for ex situ management, and mechanisms of sharing of responsibilities.

From 1996 to 2002 the main activities of the Working Groups were mainly driven by EU funded projects ( GENRES CT95 42 Sugar Beet and RESGEN - CT95 - 34/45 Potato).

On its second meeting in Bologna the NCG recommended to establish a Working Group on Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp) with the objective to facilitate the implementation of the workplan proposed by the ad hoc group on Flax and to help the development of a European Central Database for Hemp (ECDH). The WG was finally founded during Phase VII and the Istituto Sperimentale per le Colture Industriali (ISCI, Bologna, Italy) started to develop the ECDH.

The NCG considered the implementation of a system of sharing of responsibilities as a main challenge for the Working Group on Potato. This is particularly important for a crop which requires expensive maintenance in vitro or in the field.

Considering the good progress made by the Working Group on Beta in the field of germplasm evaluation the NCG suggested to focus activities on the formalization of the sharing of maintenance responsibilities within a network of decentralized national Beta holdings. The experience made by the Working Group on Beta in the field of task sharing were used to elaborate AEGIS (A European Genebank Integrated System).

The NCG suggests prioritizing the Fibre Crops as well as the Beta Working Group during Phase VII. The Fibre Crops WG was only recently established, still is in the developing phase and needs therefore more support.
The Beta Working Group maintains work started in the past such as the implementation of the sharing of responsibility concept. In addition, there is urgent need to assess the risk of genetic erosion in some wild Beta species and to develop / implement joint in situ - management plans for endangered species and valuable populations.
The Potato WG will require a limited support which could be provided by the budget line for lower priority Working Groups.

Contacts

Network Coordinator:
Mr Lothar Frese

Network Coordinating Group members


Documents

Network Related Publications

Budget
as of December 06

Report of a Network Coordinating Group on Industrial Crops and Potato.
Second meeting,
22 October 2002,
Bologna, Italy

Meetings & Reports

Databases