![]() All depend on crops and the genetic diversity within these crops from other countries and regions.” The future of agriculture depends on international cooperation and on the open exchange of the crops and their genes that farmers all over the world have developed and exchanged over 10,000 years. They are the raw material that farmers and plant breeders use to improve the quality and productivity of our crops. The importance of preserving seeds is stated in the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) description of its purpose: “Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are crucial in feeding the world's population. The Vault, designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections, sent seeds from 20 different research institutes and national gene collections. Some 268,000 seed samples that represent the agriculture of 220 countries have already been catalogued, coded and moved into the Vault. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault established in the permafrost in the mountains of Svalbard opened on Februon a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. In all, the shipments of seeds secured in the vault today weighed an approximately astonishing 10 tons, filling 676 boxes. Each sample may contain hundreds of seeds or more. This article has been fact-checked by Arctic Today and Polar Research and Policy Initiative, with the support of the EMIF managed by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.ĭisclaimer: The sole responsibility for any content supported by the European Media and Information Fund lies with the author(s) and it may not necessarily reflect the positions of the EMIF and the Fund Partners, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute.Built near the village of Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen, the vault at its inception contains 268,000 distinct samples of seeds - each one originating from a different farm or field in the world. Among them are around 2,750 samples from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Germany, the country’s largest such facility. In the days surrounding the anniversary, dozens of boxes with almost 20,000 new seed samples from 20 gene banks around the world are expected on Spitsbergen. ![]() Teenagers from the village who are 15, the same age as the seed depository, are also expected to help deposit new seed duplicates in the vault on Tuesday. Almost 1.2 million seed samples from all over the world are stored at a constant minus 18 degrees Celsius in the facility near Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard. The facility also gives gene banks the opportunity to access backup copies of their collections in the event of a disaster. Its central task is to secure crop diversity on Earth and the food supply for mankind. The seed vault contains almost 1.2 million seed samples from all over the world. (dpa)ĬOPENHAGEN - On the Arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, the Global Seed Vault celebrated its 15th anniversary on Sunday. ![]() The entrance to the global seed vault also known as ‘Doomsday’ on Spitsbergen rises out of the snowy mountain landscape near the polar town of Longyearbyen.
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