25 November 2007 is the date when the world’s scientific community commemorates the 120th birthday of Academician N. I. Vavilov, an outstanding Russian plant scientist, geneticist, botanist, geographer and founder of the first global collection of crop genetic resources.

The N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) is planning to celebrate this memorial date by organizing the II International Vavilov Conference Crop Genetic Resources in the 21st Century: Current Status, Problems and Prospects, which will be held in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 26 - 30 November 2007.

The Conference will concentrate on the following topics:

• Significance of Vavilov’s theoretical heritage for modern science
• Plant genetic diversity as a basis for food, bioresource and environmental security
• Vital aspects of in situ and ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources
• Modern technologies in researching and broadening plant genetic diversity
• The role of plant genetic resources in the world’s breeding achievements
• Information technologies in plant genetic resources management and evaluation

Registration fee for the participants is U.S. $ 200.