CGN crop collections
This section contains information about the CGN agricultural and horticultural crop collections. The complete CGN collection holds almost 24,000 accessions. All collections can be searched and requested online and passport and phenotypic data can be downloaded per crop.
CGN asparagus collection
The CGN asparagus collection consists of 34 accessions collected in Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2012. More accessions will become available after regeneration.
CGN apple collection
The apple collection has a special status since it is the only field collection of CGN. The collection is maintained as trees in an orchard at the Experimental Station Randwijk. Requests for scions can be made via the CGN website. The collection mainly consists of old Dutch varieties, material from Dutch pomological organizations and from the former research institutes of Wageningen University & Research. The first old apple varieties were already collected in 1976 in an effort to conserve varieties which were no longer used in commercial production.
CGN Beet Collection
Since 2025, CGN manages the beet collection, which consists of heirloom varieties, landraces, and wild species.
CGN black salsify collection
Since 2010, CGN has managed a collection of black salsify (Scorzonera hispanica), consisting of heirloom varieties and collected accessions. The closely related species Tragopogon porrifolius (salsify) is also part of this collection.
CGN cereals collection
The collection consists of accessions of wheat, barley and oat. The basis of the collection is formed by the work collections of the former Foundation for Agricultural Plant Breeding (SVP) and the Department of Plant Breeding of the Agricultural University of Wageningen (IVP). Additional material was added from other, mainly Dutch, institutions and private breeding companies.
CGN crucifers collection
The crucifer collection consists of more than 40 crop groups. For the most part, the collection originates from the former Foundation for Plant Breeding (SVP), the Institute for Horticultural Plant Breeding (IVT) and departments of Wageningen University & Research.
CGN flax collection
The flax collection of CGN with about 1000 accessions is one of the bigger collections of flax in the world. It consists of both flax for fibre and flax for oil (linseed). The flax collection was established in the beginning of the 20th century by the Plant Breeding Institute (IVP) of Wageningen University & Research.
CGN forage crops collection
The CGN forages collection consists of 10 grass species with almost 800 accessions and 2 clover species with nearly 300 accessions.
CGN fruit vegetables collection
The fruit vegetables collection of CGN (tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber and melon) originate predominantly from the former Institute for Horticultural Plant Breeding (IVT) where they were used as working collections for pre-breeding purposes.
CGN grain legumes collection
The collection consists of around 2000 accessions of pea, faba bean, bean and lupin. The material was formed with material that mainly originated from the former Foundation for Agricultural Plant Breeding (SVP), and a small part of the accessions from the former Institute for Horticultural Plant Breeding (IVT). The collections have subsequently been enlarged with material from the Centre for Plant Breeding and Reproduction Research (CPRO-DLO).
CGN leafy vegetables collection
Leafy vegetables are a highly variable group of crop plants that can broadly be defined as vegetables grown for their edible leaves. However, the distinction between leafy and non-leafy crops is not always clear.
CGN maize collection
The collection only holds material from the species Zea mays and consists out of almost 500 accessions.
CGN onion and leek collection
The Allium collection originates from the former Institute for Horticultural Plant Breeding (IVT). The IVT collection consisted mainly of onion and leek cultivars collected from Dutch seed firms in the framework of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (Van der Meer and Van Bennekom 1983). After adopting this collection, much attention was given to rationalizing the collection by bulking duplicates. This effort resulted in a considerable reduction of the collection (Boukema and De Groot 1991).
CGN potato collection
The potato collection has been maintained at CGN since 1995. It consists of wild and Andean cultivated potato species.
CGN Apiaceae Collection
The Apiaceae form a diverse plant family that includes crops cultivated worldwide for use as vegetables, spices, or medicinal plants.