This diverse germplasm provides the genetic raw material needed by plant breeders to develop new varieties of crops that have desirable qualities and can withstand constantly changing biological and environmental stresses.
[1] Conservation and use of this genetic diversity are critical to meeting the current and future challenges to global food security.
Before the Americas were colonized by Europeans, native peoples domesticated indigenous plants including corn, squash and beans and spread them to new agricultural environments.
[2][3][4][5] In 1819, The Secretary of the Treasury issued a circular requesting that consuls stationed in other countries obtain seed of useful plants and send them to the U.S.[4] Between 1836 and 1862 the U.S. Patent Office, first under the State Department and then under the Department of the Interior, administered a plant exploration and introduction program funded through yearly appropriations.
from several sources, including participants in U.S. naval expeditions, diplomatic officials stationed in foreign countries, other governments and private individuals.
[7] Along with Fairchild, early notable USDA plant explorers included Frank N. Meyer, Niels E. Hansen, and Palemon Howard (P.H.)
in Miami, Florida in 1898, followed by notable gardens at Chico, California in 1904, Savannah, Georgia in 1919, and Glen Dale, Maryland in 1919.
[10] This distribution mission remains a primary objective of the NPGS today, with about 250,000 samples being supplied annually to global plant breeders and other research scientists.
Over the decades, germplasm exchange between countries has formed the basis for bilateral and multilateral collaborations involving training and research that benefit all parties.
[12] The Act provided the legal basis for federal-state cooperation in managing crop and livestock genetic resources and conducting research.
in 1958 to provide backup conservation and long-term storage of seeds and, more recently, clonal plant material.
This ARS location also conducts research on the long-term cryopreservation of agriculturally important genetic resources, and coordinates U.S. contributions to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
The number of living, active accessions in the NPGS typically increases by several thousand annually and is currently nearing 600,000.
from the ongoing USDA Plant Exploration and Exchange Program,[18] as well as from public and private sector donors in the U.S. and globally.
[19] The NPGS is an important U.S. living scientific collection, and the cornerstone of global efforts to ensure food security in the face of significant challenges posed by threats to crop production.