interests and expertise, it has complicated NPGS management and administration. For example, several different, independent advisory groups and administrative lines oversee virtually every major site.

Leadership and advisory functions within the national system are difficult to discern. The evolution of the system has produced numerous committees and individuals with varying degrees of authority and responsibility. As the lead agency for NPGS management, the ARS administers its programs through a decentralized system of area offices and its National Program Staff. This approach impedes the efficient, coordinated management of what should be a nationally oriented system.

The NPGS has no clearly designated, central administrative leadership. As a member of the ARS National Program Staff, the national program leader for plant germplasm is charged by the ARS with planning responsibility for the national system. He or she, however, has little authority over budgets, programs, or management at individual sites, and can only offer management recommendations. These recommendations require approval from the Germplasm Matrix Team (composed of other National Program Staff with different research planning responsibilities) and the concurrence of the deputy administrator of the ARS, the administrator, and then the relevant area directors, each with multiple and different priorities. Thus, the program leader cannot ensure the implementation of programs conceived as part of planning responsibilities.

The CSRS also provides regional research funds to the NPGS as mandated by the Hatch Act (Public Law 84-352). The national program leader for plant germplasm has no authority over the distribution or use of these funds.

Individual sites, such as a regional plant introduction station, are responsible independently to each of their funding authorities, which may include ARS, CSRS, and a state agricultural experiment station. This creates parallel and duplicate sets of authorities, responsibilities, policies, and procedures for many sites.

Providing advice for managing the national system is no less complex. Many committees and individuals hold varying and frequently overlapping advisory responsibilities. These include the

• National Plant Genetic Resources Board (NPGRB), which according to its charter advises the secretary of agriculture and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges on national

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)