17/05/2016

The country adheres to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources FAO.

Rome, May 17, 2016 - Argentina joins the international efforts for the conservation and distribution of crop varieties that can safeguard food security in the coming decades with its accession to the 2004 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture ( ITPGRFA).

The Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Claudio J. Rozencwaig, deposited on 13 May the instrument of ratification to the Treaty with the Director-General of the Organization, José Graziano da Silva.

Graziano da Silva congratulated Argentina on its accession and highlighted the role and contribution that the country can perform under the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing established by the Treaty. From now on, Argentina may participate as a member of sessions of the Governing Body of the Treaty.

 "Argentina will continue to seek the inclusion of a greater variety of crops and forages under the Treaty," remarked Ambassador Rozencwaig at the ceremony of the deposit of the instrument.  He also highlighted the benefits of the ratification for the small farmers in Argentina.

Facilitated access to plant material

The Treaty established a global pool of 64 food crops totalling more than 1,8 million samples of known plant genetic resources. It provides farmers, plant breeders and scientists free access to plant genetic material of these crops, which account for 80 percent of all human-consumption derived from plants, and helps to share the monetary and non-monetary benefits.

Most of the food we eat today have their origins in the work and knowledge that farmers have accumulated throughout the centuries in many parts of the world, ranging from the potatoes from Peru to the artichokes from North Africa.

However, agricultural biodiversity, which is at the base of food production, has experienced a sharp decline over decades due to the effects of modernization, changes in diets and increasing population density, among other factors. It is estimated that in the last century we have lost about three-quarters of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops, and this genetic decline continues, according to recent reports and studies.

It is estimated that the mankind had some 10 000 crops. Today, only 150 crops feed most of the world's population, and only 12 of them provide almost 80 percent of dietary energy from plants. Rice, wheat, maize and potato alone represent almost 60 percent.

Photo credit: The Director-General of FAO receives the instrument of accession from Ambassador Rozencwaig