FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION INTERNATIONAL BOARD FOR OF THE UNITED NATIONS PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FAO/IBPGR TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE SAFE MOVEMENT OF EDIBLE AROID GERMPLASM Edited by

Collecting, conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources and their global distribution are essential components of international crop improvement programmes. Inevitably, the movement of germplasm involves a risk of accidentally introducing plant quarantine pests along with the host plant material; in particular, cryptic pathogens such as viruses pose a special risk. In order to minimize this risk, effective testing (indexing) procedures are required to ensure that distributed material is free of pests that are of quarantine concern. The ever increasing volume of germplasm exchanged internationally, coupled with recent rapid advances in biotechnology, has created a pressing need for crop-specific overviews of the existing knowledge in all disciplines relating to the phytosanitary safety of germplasm transfer. This has prompted FAO and IBPGR to launch a collaborative programme for the safe and expeditious movement of germplasm reflecting the complementarity of their mandates with regard to the safe movement of germplasm. FAO has a long-standing mandate to assist it