Knowledge sharing on best practices for managing crop genebanks Authors: MA JORGE, G CLAESSENS, J HANSON, ME DULLOO, E GOLDBERG, I THORMANN, S ALEMAYEHU, E GACHERU, A AMRI, E BENSON, D DUMET, N ROUX, P RUDEBJER, R SACKVILLE HAMILTON, I SANCHEZ, S SHARMA, S TABA, HD UPADHYAYA and I VAN DEN HOUWE IAALD XIIIth World Congress, Scientific and Technical Information and Rural Development 29 April 2010 Presented by Geert Claessens The Crop Genebank Knowledge Base (CGKB)

Outline Background Why develop CGKB? Approach to development Results Challenges Conclusions

1800’s: Farmers in USA growing 7100 varieties Today: 6800 of those are extinct Lost varieties with potential resistance or tolerance to diseases or stresses? Photo: Background (Info from TED talk Cary Fowler)

Background Safeguarding the world’s crop genetic diversity = extremely important resource to meet food production challenges Plant breeders & farmers use diversity directly or to develop new varieties that are resistant to stresses (pests & diseases, drought, salinity...) Storage rooms of this diversity = Genebanks First genebanks established over 50 years ago to conserve threatened crop diversity Lately, however, new technologies and better practices are developed for more effective and efficient conservation Photos: CGIAR

Background People looking for this information turn more and more to the internet to find information instead of using traditional sources i.e. publications, encyclopedias But genebank management guidelines for different crops are scarce and hard to find Or inaccessible in the public domain  A real need to make information on genebank practices accessible online to genebank holders

Background Several online crop-related knowledge bases were developed in recent years Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology (ISAAA) Food Security & Agricultural Production Knowledge Forum (FAO) Cereal Knowledge Bank on rice, maize and wheat (CIMMYT/IRRI)  None of these KB’s focuses specifically on conservation crop genetic resources

Why develop CGKB ? A website to give access to user- friendly and up-to-date information on germplasm management and genebank procedures A website that facilitates sharing of practices between genebanks A website that can be used as a training tool for technical staff in genebanks Photos: CGIAR

Development of the website was an initiative of the System-wide Genetic Resources Program (SGRP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Part of a large 3-year project on collective action for crop genetic resources Project first focused on 9 crops conserved and managed by minimum 2 International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) Approach: Framework

Contacted crop experts from genebanks worldwide to collate and develop content Engaged training & communication specialists as well as selected users for technical and editorial reviews Approach: Setting up partnerships

Website structure and layout were developed with the involvement of genebank experts 4 themes were selected to cover the content of the website Every theme contains a number of menus and submenus Names, content and layout for all menus were regularly fine-tuned and adjusted to ensure a simple and logical flow Approach: Website structure

Design and navigation features were fine-tuned based on feedback from user questionnaires Approach: Website design

Contact person to keep the information updated and to respond to queries Key contributors Best practices with images, flip books, videos Image attributions References with links to full text or other websites for further reading  Common layout structure for the different pages makes it easy  for the user to locate information  for the editor to add new information Approach: General page layout

CMS  software that helps to organize web pages, menus as well as content such as, photos, video, documents... Can have multiple editors around the world (Montpellier, Rome, Addis Abeba, Mexico city) Joomla content management system ( –Requires minimal specialized skill or knowledge to set up and manage –Yet great extensibility (forum, video player, forms, etc.) –Freely available (open source) Approach: CMS Joomla editor and admin window

Wiki (Wikispaces) to post, edit and discuss possible content Approach: Collaboration tools Comments boxes Blog (WordPress) for informal communication about work progress/activities Form to upload contributions

Enriched with multimedia such as images flipbooks (sequence of images to illustrate steps of a process) video clips Approach: Multimedia tools ImagesFlipbooksVideos

Made use of Flickr and YouTube to facilitate downloading of all CGKB images and videos Approach: Multimedia tools CGKB Flickr photostream CGKB YouTube channel

Website traffic is monitored and recorded using Google analytics ( Approach: Webstats

Results: Home page Information about –website and its features –contributors –copyright policies –contacts for maintenance and queries –form to upload new best practices Entry point to –forum –blog –RSS feed on genebank news (from agrifeeds.org) –editor login –wiki work space

Results: Crops Provides crop-specific information on recommended procedures for 9 crops (initially) For each crop detailed information about conservation, characterization, regeneration and safety duplication

Results: Procedures Describes all the genebank procedures in general (not crop specific) Explains why, when and how they should best be followed Can be printed and used as handouts for training purposes

Results: Management strategies Provides information/advice on management of a genebank –Risk assessment –Quality management –Policies –Safe transfer of germplasm –Performance indicators –...

Results: Learning resources Aims to strengthen capacity of genebank curators and technicians Gives teachers and learners access to a one-stop library: –Publications (training modules, handbooks, manuals etc.) –Multimedia (videos, slide shows, a photo database) –Glossary and acronym list –Relevant links to websites Website also available on DVD  The training component of the website was validated in a genebank training course in Korea Photo: CGIAR

Challenges: Collaboration Multiple partners in many locations; Discussing the site structure, content and design by with people across the globe was often difficult and complicated Higher transaction costs and delays than expected because of writing and reviewing the content by subject experts  Partly solved by face-to-face meetings, skype calls, workshops and genebank visits to create awareness, prompt contributions and collect visual materials and make complex or difficult decisions

Challenges: Tools and Training Learning curve for editors to use the CMS Most collaborators were unfamiliar with web tools like wikis, blogs or Google shared documents so these were not used as extensively or effectively as hoped for  Training tutorials were developed to facilitate learning for editors

Challenges: Content Much of the content was submitted at the very end of the project Templates were prepared to collect structured information but needed adjustment because of different interpretations by the experts (level of depth or details, visual aids) Converting text-based information into meaningful web content Reviewing the layout of each web page for consistency was time consuming  Negotiated an extension of the project with the donor to finalize content

Conclusions This paper/presentation describes the process of developing a one- stop platform about best practices on crop genebank management Synergies were created by many experts worldwide who gathered and transformed scattered information into knowledge about conserving crop diversity An interactive platform that can be expanded, updated and used by the genebank community Communication and collaboration mechanisms have been established to promote networking

Conclusions This is not the end but the beginning. We hope the CGKB will contribute to narrowing knowledge gaps, help to create communities of genebank practitioners and strengthen their capacity to be effective custodians of the world’s crop diversity for food and agriculture in the future.

Acknowledgements World Bank for funding the development of the CGKB Wide range of experts who spent their valuable time and contributed significantly to improving the content, layout and navigation of this website. Contact Thank you