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Crop Genetic Resources For Today And Tomorrow
The International Biological Programme was established by the International Council of Scientific Unions in 1964 as a counterpart of the International Geophysical Year. The subject of the IBP was defined as 'The Biological Basis of Productivity and Human Welfare', and the reason for its establishment was recognition that the rapidly increasing human population called for a better under- standing of the environment as a basis for the rational management of natural resources. This could be achieved only on the basis of scientific knowledge, which in many fields of biology and in many parts of the world was felt to be inadequate. At the same time it was recognised that human activities were creating rapid and compre- hensive changes in the environment. Thus, in terms of human wel- fare, the reason for the IBP lay in its promotion of basic knowledge
relevant to the needs of man. The IBP provided the first occasion on which biologists throughout the world were challenged to work together for a common cause. It involved an integrated and concerted examination of a wide range of problems. The Programme was co-ordinated through a series of seven sections representing the major subject areas of research. Four of these sections were concerned with the study of biological productivity on land, in freshwater, and in the seas, together with the processes of photosynthesis and nitrogen-fixation. Three sections were concerned with adaptability of human populations, conserva- tion of ecosystems and the use of biological resources.
After a decade of work, the Programme terminated in June 1974 and this series of volumes brings together, in the form of syntheses, the results of national and international activities.
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