Genebanks collect and preserve vast collections of plants and detailed passport information, with the aim of preserving genetic diversity for conservation and breeding. Genetic characterization of such collections has the potential to elucidate the genetic histories of important crops, use marker–trait associations to identify loci controlling traits of interest, search for loci undergoing selection, and contribute to genebank management by identifying taxonomic misassignments and duplicates. We conducted a genomic scan with genotyping by sequencing (GBS) derived single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 10,038 pepper (Capsicum spp.) accessions from worldwide genebanks and investigated the recent history of this iconic staple. Genomic data detected up to 1,618 duplicate accessions within and between genebanks and showed that taxonomic ambiguity and misclassification often involve interspecific hybrids that are difficult to classify morphologically. We deeply interrogated the genetic diversity of the commonly consumed Capsicum annuum to investigate its history, finding that the kinds of peppers collected in broad regions across the globe overlap considerably. The method ReMIXTURE—using genetic data to quantify the similarity between the complement of peppers from a focal region and those from other regions—was developed to supplement traditional population genetic analyses. The results reflect a vision of pepper as a highly desirable and tradable cultural commodity, spreading rapidly throughout the globe along major maritime and terrestrial trade routes. Marker associations and possible selective sweeps affecting traits such as pungency were observed, and these traits were shown to be distributed nonuniformly across the globe, suggesting that human preferences exerted a primary influence over domesticated pepper genetic structure.

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The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) conserves and distributes five vegetable collections as seeds: the aubergine* (in this article the word aubergine refers to eggplant), pepper, tomato, melon and lettuce collections, together with their wild or cultivated relatives, are conserved in Avignon, France. Accessions from the collections have geographically diverse origins, are generally well-described and fixed for traits of agronomic or scientific interest and have available passport data. In addition to currently conserving over 10,000 accessions (between 900 and 3000 accessions per crop), the centre maintains scientific collections such as core collections and bi- or multi-parental populations, which have also been genotyped with SNP markers. Each collection has its own merits and highlights, which are discussed in this review: the aubergine collection is a rich source of crop wild relatives of Solanum; the pepper, melon and lettuce collections have been screened for resistance to plant pathogens, including viruses, fungi, oomycetes and insects; and the tomato collection has been at the heart of genome-wide association studies for fruit quality traits and environmental stress tolerance.

In last ten years (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007), the area planted to coconut in the world (average 12 Mha) has shown a decreasing trend (average 1%/year). World coconut oil production has remained at more or less the same level in the last ten years (average 3 MT/year). The study of the coconut commodity chain in Ghana show that this sector is confronted with many constraints: the inadequacy price of coconut oil and the competition with other oleaginous plants; an aging coconut plantation; the impacts of the coconut yellow lethal disease, an important demand in peeled nuts towards Nigeria market and the weak dynamism of its institutional organization. Four commodity chains are moving together: the commodity chains of the processing of traditional and semi-industrial coconut oil produce little added value. The commodity of fresh nuts produces a higher added value with limited urban market. Finally, the recent export of peeled nuts commodity chain towards Nigeria offers a large market and brings an important added value to the smallholders. Despite a replanting project in hybrid coconuts, the rehabilitation/replanting of coconut plantation remains one of the challenges to deal with, in order to boost the coconut commodity chain in Ghana. The observation is that smallholders have not taken up the challenge after the public interventions have seized, in order to rehabilitate or replant their coconut trees. The strategy developed does not sufficiently lay on the market signal which today has evolved. The improved material available and the tested technologies should allow the boosting of the production sector and the reduction of the vulnerable conditions of household affected or threaten by the disease. The same way, the divergent strategies of stakeholders of the coconut commodity chain in Ghana slow down the dynamic of reorientation of this sector towards the export of peeled nuts. Producers in particular, should take advantage of this lucrative commodity chain. It is about all the stakeholders having interest in this commodity chain by preserving the coconut oil sector, which shows an economic, but also considerable social dimension. The boost of this production passes necessarily through the support function of the production and through professional organizations of producers.