ECP/GR
There are currently two ECP/GR Central Databases for fruit tree crops. The Prunus Database is managed by INRA, Bordeaux (France) and the European Malus Database is managed by Wye College (UK). Responsibility for management of the common Malus Database was agreed upon during the European Malus Germplasm Workshop organized in 1995 by the National Fruit Collections, Wye College (UK) (Case, 1995). The first pilot version of the ECP/GR Malus Database was released in 1998. Since the first meeting of the newly created Malus/Pyrus Working Group, held in Ireland in 1997, proposals have been made by some countries to create and to host the ECP/GR Pyrus Database (Maggioni et al., 1997). The ECP/GR Secretariat, in agreement with the Malus/Pyrus Working Group, decided officially in 1998 that Belgium would be responsible for hosting the future ECP/GR Pyrus Database.