National Genetic Resources Advisory Council

The National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC) was established in 2012 as a permanent subcommittee of the NAREEE Advisory Board.  

NGRAC advises and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and Director of ARS’ National Genetic Resources Program (NGRP). NGRP acquires, characterizes, conserves, documents, and distributes to scientists germplasm of all life forms important for food and agricultural production.

NGRP’s Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) documents these animal, microbial, and plant collections through informational pages, searchable databases, and links to USDA-ARS projects that curate the collections.

The National Strategic Germplasm and Cultivar Assessment and Utilization Plan, requested in the 2018 Farm Bill, is also referred to as the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) Plan. The Plan was written by ARS, which is the lead agency for operating the NPGS. This Council reviewed the draft Plan in FY22 and developed recommendations for the Plan’s enhancement.

The Council’s NPGS Plan recommendations were finalized, and NAREEE Board-approved in Feb 2022 (FY22). These recommendations were considered by ARS throughout FY23, and the majority of the NGRAC’s feedback to improve the NPGS Plan was integrated into subsequent versions of the Plan. The Plan’s recommendations (what this Council provided) may be found in the ‘Reports’ section on this page below.

As of FY24, the NPGS Plan has been finalized, cleared, and is available for public review on ARS web sites: USDA-ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) and National Program 301: Plant Genetic Resources, Genomics and Genetic Improvement Strategic Vision.