Abstract: Pasture germplasm resource is the foundation of pasture breeding, which is also the important material basis for China′s agricultural science and technology innovation as well as the sustainable development of grass and pasture industry. China is rich in pasture germplasm resources. Up to now, relevant researchers have collected 6 704 species of grassland forage plants belonging to 5 phyla, 246 families and 1 545 genera, and the preserved pasture germplasm resources have reached 55 800 copies, ranking the second in the world. Among them, 717 new pasture grass varieties have been validated. In this paper, the collection, preservation, identification status and utilization of pasture germplasm resources in China are reviewed, with a view to providing reference for researchers to further collect, preserve and utilize pasture germplasm resources.

Key words: forage, germplasm resources, collection and preservation, identification and evaluation