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1. In-vitro storage – where we sue tissue culture at low temperature. Is not been used extensively but in some crops e.g. grapes, where you can store up to 800 different cultivars in 2m2 for a long time.
2. Long term storage – Done at low temperature and low humidity. Each crop has its own temperature and humidity requirements, viability should be looked into to have man samples.
Method 1 : Keep sampling and testing (over a long time) the sample may be destroyed.
Method 2 : use of experiments to predict time of testing maize of 10% humidity, stored at 00c can be stored for 20 years. So when put under this condition we don’t have to experiment . Do not allow viability to decrease below 80.
Note: If viability drops below 80% , genetic constitution of sample will start changing selectively in one direction and mutation occurs.
3. Pollen storage – Is more difficult than storage of seed because not much is known about this method but has been successful in crops that take too long.
4. Living plants – useful when we want to keep tree crops and other perennial crops. Are planted and left in the field. Also annuals and vegetative crops e.g. Tubers
Challenges - It’s expensive
- Requires a lot of space
- Method too vulnerable to environment problems
(left to elements of weather)
5. Agricultural Research – Deliberate maintenance of agric practices that change i.e. traditional systems e.g. using same land races overtime. Is not popular because the farmers don’t improve their agricultural practices.
Kavungya answered the question on March 12, 2019 at 07:46