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Georgia's active involvement in international projects was discussed at meeting of Plant Genetic Resources of National Coordinators in Sweden

Levan Ujmajuridze, Director of the Scientific-Research Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, attended the sixteenth meeting of the Steering Committee of the National Coordinators of the European Co-operative Program for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR). The activities carried out within the framework of Phase X and future plans were also discussed.

The European Countries’ Program for Plant Genetic Resources has been in operation since 1980, with the aim of ensuring the long-term conservation of plant genetic resources and the sustainable use of plant genetic resources in European countries. Georgia, since 2019, is an officially registered member of the ECPGR, represented in the documentation groups for grapevine, fruit crops, wheat, legumes and plant genetic resources.

The efficient access to the unique genetic resources of European collections through ECPGR Phase XI of the European Integrated Genetic Resources System (AEGIS) is renovation of plant morphological characteristics and passport information in the Catalog of European Plant Genetic Resources (EURISCO), improvement of the in situ conservation and use of wild species of crops and the accession of countries to the European Free Alliance for Plant Genetic Resources (FA).

The meeting, which was attended by more than 30 European countries, focused on international expeditions and Georgia's active involvement in international projects.

During the working visit, Levan Ujmajuridze got acquainted with the laboratory capabilities of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and with the working process of the NordGen Plant Genetic Resources Bank, where more than 35,000 seed samples are stored. He also inspected the collections of various agricultural crops located in an open or closed ground.