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600 samples of Georgian wheat and beans of Georgian origin were returned from the Gene bank of Gatersleben (IPK) in Germany

Within the framework of the international project of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 600 samples of wheat and beans of Georgian origin were transferred to the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture from the Gene bank of Gatersleben (IPK). For the purpose of study, the samples will be sown at the center's experimental-demonstration base of Tsilkani, and after their identification, the material will be returned to the farms in the place of origin.

In order to discuss the importance of the mentioned issue and future plans, a working meeting was held in the laboratory of the Research Division of Standards and Certification of Seeds and Planting Materials of the Scientific-Research Center. The meeting was attended by Iuri Nozadze, the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Levan Ujmajuridze, Director of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, and the employees of the center's relevant divisions.

"In the 90s of the last century, due to the political-economic crisis of Georgia, a part of the local gene pool of field crops in various research institutions was lost, and a part was found in foreign gene banks. Genetic material of Georgian origin, endemic species or local forms, which are no longer stored with us, are preserved in international gene banks. The mentioned material is a national treasure for Georgia, which can bring great benefits to our agriculture; This is precisely why it is important to return these specimens to their homelands" – mentioned Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Iuri Nozadze.

As Director of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, Levan Ujmajuridze said, emphasis is placed on such local varieties and forms, which have important characteristics from a selective point of view and are still relevant in the Georgian three-year-old culture.

"One of the main goals of the international project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the return of unique samples of the genetic resources of the most important plant cultures, which were exported from Georgia in different periods and are currently preserved in foreign genebanks, their taxonomic and varietal characterization-identification, their comparison in order to assess the genetic integrity conservation according to the samples of the same varieties collected in the recent past and according to international standards", - said Levan Ujmajuridze.