It is our great pleasure to invite you the 4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources (GPGR4), which will be held in Giessen, Germany from September 3 to 7, 2017.
Plant genetic resources represent the fundamental basis for crop improvement, enabling breeders to meet demands for sustained agricultural productivity in the face of human population growth, dwindling agricultural production areas and fluctuating climatic conditions. GPGR4 will build on the great success of the previous GPGR symposia in Beijing, China (2005), Bologna, Italy (2010) and Jeju, Korea (2013), each attended by more than 400 international delegates. Those meetings laid a foundation that today underpins ongoing efforts to assemble, manage and characterise plant genetic resources using the continuous and rapid advances in the field of genomics.
The continuing revolution of genomics technologies provides unprecedented opportunities for detailed genetic characterisation of the vast reservoir of diversity represented by international collections of crop genetic resources. Genomics platforms accelerate knowledge-based management and implementation of plant diversity as a key resource for future agriculture.
The GPGR4 organising committee comprises international personalities spanning the fields of crop genetics, genomics and diversity conservation. Together we are developing a stimulating programme, and we look forward to welcoming you to what we are sure will be an invigorating and productive symposium. Your active participation will strengthen our network of international scientists devoted to preservation and utilisation of world agriculture’s most valuable commodity – our plant genetic resources.