Global gene banks add over 11,000 seed samples to Norway's Svalbard Vault

Fourteen gene banks from around the world are depositing more than 11,200 seed samples this week at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, underscoring the critical role of crop diversity in future food security.

Nestled in the Arctic permafrost on Norway's Svalbard archipelago, the Seed Vault is the world's largest secure backup facility for crop diversity. To date, it safeguards over 1.3 million seed samples from across the globe.

This 67th deposit includes vegetables and traditional crops that are not only vital for nutrition and climate resilience, but also for maintaining cultural identities, the Crop Trust, a managing partner of the facility, said in a press release on Tuesday.

Among the new deposits are South Korea's perilla and adzuki bean, Dutch heritage cabbage and spinach varieties, and Benin's ancient cereal fonio and melon – examples of the profound link between seeds and cultural traditions worldwide.

"These additions offer another snapshot of the rich diversity now held in the Seed Vault," said Stefan Schmitz, executive director of the Crop Trust.

They reflect how cultural heritage is intertwined with the survival of often-overlooked plant varieties that are vital to the future of food, he added.

In total, 31 boxes of seeds are being deposited this week by gene banks from Austria, Benin, Kenya, Lebanon, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam and Zambia.

"The value of these seeds is immense," said Hanne-Berit Brekken, Norway's state secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. "They will support scientists, breeders, and farmers in preparing our food systems to face both natural and human-made challenges."

Established in 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault aims to protect the genetic diversity of the world's food crops from threats such as war, climate change, and natural disasters.

With a capacity to store up to 4.5 million distinct seed varieties, it serves as a global insurance policy for agriculture, housing duplicates from gene banks worldwide – as well as new varieties yet to be collected.

(Cover: The facade of the Global Seed Vault, Norway, September 24, 2023. /VCG)