Enrico Porceddu Enrico Porceddu is Professor of Agricultural Genetics at the University of Tuscia and Scientific Coordinator of the International Programme on Agrobiodiversity. As first Director of the Germplasm Institute in Bari (1971-83), Porceddu was responsible for 75 collecting missions throughout the Mediterranean, which resulted in the collection of more than 11 000 samples. While serving as coordinator of a Mediterranean network for plant genetic resources, he helped establish genebank facilities at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, the International Center for Research in Dry Areas, and the International Rice Research Institute and supported national genetic resources activities in Bolivia and Peru. Porceddu has also been deeply involved in the development of the Italian National Biodiversity Plan and the International Doctoral Programme on Agrobiodiversity.