Collecting and conservation of genetic resources of fodder crops in Croatia

Prikupljanje i očuvanje biljnih genetskih izvora krmnog bilja ima dugu tradiciju u Republici Hrvatskoj. Već davne 1921. godine na tadašnjem Poljoprivrednom fakultetu u Zagrebu zasniva se kolekcija tradicionalnih kultivara. Banka biljnih gena Jugoslavije osnovana je 1989. godine te su u okviru projekta „Formiranje i održavanje genfonda krmnih vrsta za potrebe BBGJ“ prvi puta ozbiljnije pokrenute aktivnosti u očuvanju genetskih izvora krmnog bilja. 2004.godine u okviru programa SEEDNet na području Republike Hrvatske ponovno su pokrenute aktivnosti u prikupljanju i očuvanju genetskih izvora krmnog bilja. 2013. godine usvojen je Nacionalni program očuvanja i održive uporabe biljnih genetskih izvora za hranu i poljoprivredu, u sklopu kojeg je formirana i Nacionalna banka biljnih gena unutar koje djeluje radna skupina Krmno bilje. Cilj ovog rada bio je dati povijesni pregled te opisati dosadašnje rezultate u očuvanju genetskih izvora krmnog bilja u sklopu hrvatske Nacionalne banke biljnih gena.Collecting and conservation of plant genetic resources has a long tradition in Croatia. Long time ago, in 1921, on former Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb, a collection of primitive cultivars was founded. In 1989. Plant Gene Bank of Yugoslavia was founden and in project „Formation and maintenance of genfond for fodder crops species for needs of PGB in Yugoslavia“, for the first time activities started in trying to preserve fodder crops germplasm. There were no significant activity in that field until 2004, when Croatia was part of project SEEDNet. In 2013, „National programme for preservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture“ was adopted and Croatian National Gene Bank was founded, and working group „Fodder crops“ was formed. Goal of this thesis was to give a historical review and to describe current results in conservation of fodder crops genetic resources in Croatian national plant gene bank