The importance of on-farm conservation for the Finnish landraces and old varieties of cereals and fodder plants is briefly discussed and the on-going project of Finnish landraces represented. The project was started in 1997 by the Seed Testing Department of the Plant Production Inspection Centre in order to link on-farm conservation efforts and seed distribution possibilities. The project aims to make a proposal for a system of characterization, registration, on-farm management and seed marketing of landraces and old Finnish commercial varieties (cereals, forage species). The key aspects of the proposal, which is constructed by the end of 1998, are presented in this shot note.
Keywords: landrace, old commercial variety, characterization, registration, on-farm conservation.