HISTORY
1981
PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES UNIT
Creation of Plant Genetic Resources Unit at Santa Catalina Experimental Station of INIAP
1981
COLLECTING THE FIRST ACCESSION OF AMARANTO
The first accession (ECU-001) was collected in the province of Cañar. Later, collections continued with other crops such as quinoa, chocho, melloco, oca, mashua, and white carrot.
1991
OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES (DENAREF)
The Gene Bank for Food and Agriculture was established through germplasm collection and conservation activities.
2024
GENE BANK IN ECUADOR
Currently, the Gene Bank conserves 29,000 accessions of cultivated plants and their wild relatives (both Andean and introduced species), distributed across six experimental stations of INIAP.
