| Banana is one of the most important fruits and food crops grown worldwide. However, banana production is being increasingly threatened by diseases, pests, chilling injury and other unfavorable factors. Therefore, it is crucial to diversify cultivars and breed new banana varieties with high disease-resistance, yielding and quality, which requires mass and comprehensive collection and conservation of excellent germplasm resources. Banana is perennial asexual herbaceous plant and is extremely difficult to propagate with seeds. Therefore, the conservation of banana germplasm resources is mainly in vivo preservation, including nursery planting, greenhouse planting and conservation in vitro（slow growth conservation and cryopreservation）. Based on the abundant Musa germplasm resources, new banana varieties with high resistance and
quality are selected through resources screening, hybrid breeding and mutation breeding, which is of great significance for the sustainable development of banana production and the increase of farmers’ income. Currently, the National Field Genebank for Banana and Litchi（Guangzhou） consists of 340 accessions, including cultivated varieties, wild species and wild relatives（species）. The Musa germplasm resources in the field nursery, in the greenhouse and in slow growth conservation are updated every 2-3 years, every 1-2 years and every 6-12 months, respectively. Based on the abundant Musa germplasm resources in the National Field Genebank for Banana and Litchi（Guangzhou）, a number of varieties with high disease-resistance and quality have been selected, such as Fenza No. 1 and Nantianhuang, which play a vital role in supporting the banana industry, rural revitalization and poverty alleviation. |
