A two day online training workshop on ‘Role of GIS tools and techniques in plant genetic resources – mapping diversity and conservation’, was organised under the UN Environment implemented GEF project ‘Mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity conservation and utilization in agricultural sector to ensure ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability’ being implemented in India. The two training sessions were held on 3 and 24 September 2020 and were attended by more than 70 participants. The training was conducted by Prem Mathur, Consultant, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and mainly focused on the use of DIVA-GIS, a free software customised for data collection, mapping and analysis for projects relating to plant genetic resources (https://www.diva-gis.org/). The training provided an introduction to aspects of data management like data preparation, geo-referencing data and importing data to GIS platform using DIVA-GIS. The participants not only received hands-on training on the various features of the GIS software but were also provided information relating to various customised manuals, examples and exercises, and scientific publications as an outcome of the use of DIVA-GIS. The aim of the training was to enable project participants to map the field trials sites and corelate the outcomes associated with local climatic conditions. The training would also help in the diversity analysis of the crop varieties being used in the project implementation.
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