ABSTRACT
Plant genetic resources (PGR) are the most important tool for plant breeders. Access to these resources was free since the beginning of agriculture. Only in the last 50 years, has the value of the genes, hence of the living organism carrying them, increased in astronomic proportions. This value is translated not only in their monetary price but more importantly also in their strategic and political value as they are the only way to reach food security in the future. Having always been important, food security has reached an even higher level of significance as food insecurity has acquired the unfortunate character of endemic at a global scale (Sasson, 2009).
