Biological Resource Center of Tropical Plants: a tool for Research and Agriculture in the Caribbean
Résumé
Plant genetic resources play a key role in adapting agriculture to social and environmental changes. They are the backbone of research and breeding programmes for the development and transfer of new crop varieties best suited to the needs and tastes of consumers and new farming systems. To this end, collections of plant genetic material have been established worldwide. In Guadeloupe and Martinique, INRA and CIRAD have built up extensive collections of tropical plants over several decades. They joined forces in 2010 to create the Centre de ressources biologiques des plantes tropicales des Antilles françaises (CRB-PT), affiliated to both institutions. In this article, we describe the CRB-PT collections, the services provided to end-users and research programs, and the scientific and technical networking strategy.
