The crop advisory committees should be provided financial support, and a mechanism should be created to use their reports when developing policies and priorities.

The crop advisory committees could be valuable in assessing the status and needs of NPGS collections. They need encouragement and financial support, but have received little of either from the National Plant Germplasm System. As a result their impact and effectiveness are reduced.

The committee's reports can be very useful as sources for developing plans and priorities for the NPGS. However, there is no mechanism to ensure they are used to set national priorities and develop plans. The more assertive committee members go directly to the NPGS, the USDA, and even to the Congress, either independently or through a commodity group, to obtain action on their concerns. This can lead to unbalanced treatment for some crops and to priorities that take no account of the relative needs of other crops.

Recently the ARS national program leader for plant germplasm has brought together the chairs of the crop advisory committees, crop curators, and others for annual meetings that have been useful for promoting communication. However, well-attended, regular meetings of the crop advisory committees are needed to discuss tasks and produce reports. Some support to chairs for administrative expenses would facilitate communication with the membership between meetings when urgent questions arise.

These committees must be developed further as key elements of the national system. If they are to receive a minimal level of support, their numbers should be reassessed. There should also be a central review of all of the reports by an existing group, the PGOC, or a committee drawn from the committees' chairs.

The Plant Germplasm Operations Committee should be given responsibility for advising the leader of the National Plant Germplasm System on management, operations, and priorities.

The PGOC has become an effective and responsive advocate for the needs and priorities of site managers in the NPGS. It provides a forum for debating the various needs of sites and collections that allows for the balancing of divergent priorities. It should report to the leader of the NPGS on matters pertaining to operations and functions at germplasm sites, and to provide advice on coordinating and developing management plans and priorities derived, in part, from the reports of the crop advisory committees.

Front Matter (R1-R16)

Executive Summary (1-20)

1 Managing Crop Genetic Resources (21-42)

2 Elements of the National Plant Germplasm System (43-86)

3 Administration of the National System (87-106)

4 Prescription for Effectiveness (107-144)

References (145-148)

Glossary (149-153)

Abbreviations (154-155)

Authors (156-160)

Index (161-173)