Question

Germplasm collection is
(A) Collection of all species of the area in herbarium of botanical garden
(B) Collection of modern varieties of a crop
(C) Collection of plants or seeds having diverse alleles of all the genes of a crop
(D) Collection of seeds or pollen of rare and threatened species of a group or area

Answer 1

Hint:Germplasm collection is an example of ex-situ type of biodiversity conservation. The ex-situ type of biodiversity conservation is made by conserving different constituents of the biological diversity beyond their natural habitation.

Complete answer:
The type collection in which plants or seeds comprising varied alleles of all the genes of a crop is known as germplasm. It is availed by the conservation of genetic resources and the varied wild species. Some of the examples of germplasm collection include gene banks, cryopreservations, microbial cultures and others.

Collection and preservation of diverse plant varieties and related information utilized for scientific and research studies is referred as herbarium. Generally, a herbarium comprises a set of diverse categories of plants or fungal varieties. In $1600$, numerous herbariums were established all over Europe in the $1600s$. These steps were taken all over the European nations to preserve the various plants which were not provided with proper care leading to their extinction.

Moreover, accurately dried out, aptly-pressed and recognized plant types are positioned in thin folded paper are kept collectively in thick paper folders, and finally are included within the herbarium cabinets in their appropriate spots, as per the specific classification or species type.

Crop diversity is the process of accumulation of a modern variety of crops. It is very essential for agricultural growth. It facilitates the farmers to expand higher productivity, more prolific varieties having enhanced characteristics as required by the consumers or farmers.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C’ i.e, ‘Collection of plants or seeds having diverse alleles of all the genes of a crop’.

Note:Germplasm comprises modern and obsolete cultivars, breeding accumulations, and wild species of the cultured crops.Germplasm contains the information for a species' genetic makeup, a valuable natural resource of plant diversity.