Ex situ conservation is the technique of conservation of all levels of biological diversity outside their natural habitats through different techniques like zoo, captive breeding, aquarium, botanical garden, and gene bank

Ex situ conservation and seed banks

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    By 2050, climate change is likely to reduce maize production globally by 3–10 percent and wheat production in developing countries by 29–34 percent. Even without climate change, the real costs of wheat and maize will increase by 60 percent between 2000 and 2050; climate change could make the figure substantially greater. Food security, despite the above, may be possible if agricultural systems are transformed through improved seed, fertilizer, land use, and governance.

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    Objective

    Description of the project:

    Grainothèque, set up in the Western part of Ivory Coast, works on preserving and exploring the genetic diversity and reproduction of local feeding plants through organic seed banks as well as improving access to information. Tools and technical notes explaining production techniques, pollination, botanical classification, isolation, harvesting, seed stocking and feeding properties are made available to women. An android application provides technical help to producers in case of plant diseases.

    Climate impact:

  • Pink Stalk Borer
    Publication date

    The pink stalk borer is a common pest throughout most of Africa.

  • Spotted Stalk Borer
    Publication date

    The spotted stalk borer is a pest in the coastal provinces of East Africa, Sudan, Malawi, India and Thailand. It is a pest of hot lowland areas and is seldom found above an altitude of 1500m.

  • Termite Control without Chemicals
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    Although usually considered pests, termites can also provide many benefits. Therefore before control measures are used an assessment should be made of the following benefits against the loss of termites from the ecosystem.

  • The Neem Tree
    Publication date

    Although it has many uses, the most important use for neem products is to fight against crop pests and diseases. Worldwide approximately one third of crops in the field and in storage are lost to pests each year. The worst affected are maize and rice in Africa and Asia. The main focus of this booklet is to describe how neem can be used to help combat and overcome these problems.

  • African Armyworm
    Publication date

    The African armyworm is widespread throughout Africa, Asia and Western Australia. It is not a serious pest except in outbreak years. Outbreaks often follow late rains in the hot season.