PGR in the Czech Republic - introduction

The Czech Republic is an industrial country with intensive agriculture and 10.3 millions inhabitants. The total area of the Czech Republic reaches 78.886 km².  Agricultural land covers 36.683 km², of which  27.470 km²  are arable lands and 8.750 km²  are steady grasslands. The rest, about 463 km²  acreage, is composed of vineyards, hop-gardens and orchards. Forests cover about one third of the total area ( 26. 430 km²).  Protected areas  are spread on 12.510 km².

Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) in the country are protected  traditionnaly in breeders' crop collections since beginning of 20 century and later, since the fifties in specialised crop institutions. More intensively are PGR protected since 1994, when the first National Programme on PGR Conservation and Utilizatin has been launched by the Ministry of Agriculture. Recently, the new National Programme corresponding to the Law on Conservation and Utilization of Plant and Microbial Genetic Resources and Biodiversity ( 148/2003 Coll.) came into force.  Altogether eleven institutions are active in the PGRFA national network.

At present, ex situ crop collections contain 48.6 thousands accessions variable agricultural species of cultivated and wild origin. About 82% of it are generatively propagated materials and about 18% are vegetatively propagated accessions. Central Gene bank at the Research Institute of Crop Production in Prague maintains about 80% of all generatively propagated accessions in medium- or long-term storage. Vegetatively  propagated species are kept in field gene banks or are conserved  in vitro method.