Review paper: global genetic resources of vegetables

The current status of global genetic resources of vegetables is discussed, based on it review of literature. Collections of 41 genera/species of leafy, non-leafy, root and tubers were identified, From these various collections, number of accessions and their associated provenance were pooled to represent the magnitude of the world conserved resource. Most pooled genera/species collections were represented by only a few (less than 5,000) accessions and further, were not comprehensively collected from their respective centres of diversify. Whether by analogy with numbers of cereals conserved, comprehensiveness of collection based an provenance, or by theoretical prediction, current world holdings are probably under-representing the potential genetic diversify of the reviewed species of vegetables. With the possible exception of only two 'major' vegetable crops (potato, tomato), it is likely the comprehensiveness of collection of most of the vegetable species is not adequate for future plant breeding needs.