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The representatives of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture paid a working visit to the Czech Gene Bank

Levan Ujmajuridze, Director of the LEPL Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, and Tamar Jinjikhadze, Head of the Center's Standardization, Certification, Planning and Economic Analysis Division, were on a working visit to the Czech Republic.

During the visit, the Director of the Center, Levan Ujmajuridze, held a meeting with the Head of the Czech Crop Research Institute, Mikulas Madaras. The meeting discussed possible formats of cooperation and strategic issues of gene bank management.

Special attention was paid to genebank management, security policy and certification system – topics that were central to the meeting of genebank managers held within the framework of ECPGR (European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources) and AEGIS (European Genebank Integrated System), in which Georgia participated.

The meeting was attended by representatives of genebanks from 33 countries. The main issues discussed were the quality management systems of European genebanks, the strategy for backup copies of collections, and certification procedures.

“The working visit to the Czech Genebank is an important part of the ongoing process through which Georgia actively shares international practices, which will be important in the long term for strengthening both the local and regional context,” said Levan Ujmajuridze, Director of the LEPL Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture.

The guests toured the collection plots, the genebank infrastructure, the in vitro laboratory, the cryobank, and learned about the standards for medium and long-term storage of collections.