Collaborative Exploration of Plant Genetic Resources in Northern Vietnam, 2020

Collaborative explorations of plant genetic resources are organized annually and conducted jointly by scientists of the Plant Resources Center (PRC) at the Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Science and the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Japan, as part of the Plant Genetic Resources in Asia (PGRAsia) project that surveys the genetic diversity of crops in Asia. Due to COVID-19 regulations, the 2020 northern Vietnam exploration was conducted by only Vietnamese scientists from October 17 to 26, 2020. This region is important in terms of biodiversity, anthropological resources, and socioeconomic status. The exploration was conducted in the Quan Ba, Dong Van, and Meo Vac districts of the Ha Giang Province, Bao Lam district of Cao Bang Province, and Ba Be district of Bac Can province. A total of 71 samples were collected, including 45 chili peppers (14 Capsicum annuum, 15 Capsicum frutescens, 1 Capsicum baccatum, and 15 Capsicum spp.), 17 eggplants (14 Solanum melongena and three Solanum spp.), two pumpkins (Cucurbita moschata), one mung bean (Vigna radiata), and six snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). This paper presents the results of the collected crop germplasm along with locally reported characteristics, applications, and planting regimes. The collected samples were divided for storage and evaluation at the PRC and NARO facilities to enable the assessment of agrobiological characteristics and markers of genetic diversity.