Non-destructive techniques in crop germplasm conservation: advances and implications for global food security

Food security constitutes a major global challenge, necessitating sustainable agricultural practices to provide enough food and ensure timely access. An essential strategy to address this challenge is effectively managing crop germplasm resources, which sustains the genetic variation necessary for crop improvement. The relevance of non-destructive crop germplasm management and its potential impact on global food security in the face of a changing climate, amidst concerns of stock depletion due to destructive testing techniques, is currently not harmonised. This review evaluates the application of non-destructive techniques (NDTs) in crop germplasm management in the last decade. The review finds the potential of NDTs to revolutionise seed health, viability testing, pre-breeding, characterisation, and optimisation of the potential of crop genetic material for food and agriculture by providing rapid, non-invasive assessment of crop germplasm as well as their significance in protecting and conserving crop germplasm resources in national and regional gene banks. Despite the precision levels in testing and recognition of samples by NDTs, further improvements can enhance the efficiency of the technology. The review also highlights the challenges, limitations, and the outlook for integrating NDTs into global food security initiatives, emphasising the imperative for innovation in research to facilitate the full-scale application of these technologies. • NDTs provide rapid, non-invasive assessment of crop germplasm. • (AI)-assisted NDT and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) enhance precision in germplasm management. • NDTs could offer scalable solutions for genebanks and field applications. • NDT implementation can be further enhanced for multiple uses