Transfer of the USDA Pisum Collection from Geneva, NY to Pullman, WA, USA

Responsibility for the USA national Pisum collection will be transferred from its current site at the Plant Genetic Resources Unit, Geneva, NY to the Western Regional Plant Introduction Station, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164 on 1 Jan 1992. Dr Richard M. Hannan will serve as curator in charge of acquisition, maintenance, characterization and distribution. The decision to transfer the collection was made by National Plant Germplasm System Program Leader, Dr Henry Shands, with the advice and consent of the national Pea Crop Advisory Committee, all of whom felt the Pullman site offers a number of advantages for the more effective conservation and utilization of the collection. Those advantages include: 1) most USA public and private pea research and development programs are located in the Pacific Northwest, 2) viable, disease-free seed can be produced more efficiently in the area; and 3) collections of other members of the tribe Viceae (Lens, Cicer, Lathyrus, and Vicia) are located at Pullman. The actual move of the collection will be made in split shipments over the coming winter to minimize damage or losses during transport.

J.R. McFerson

USDA-ARS Plant Genetic Resources Unit

Cornell Univ., Geneva NY 14456-0462, USA