The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway is going to receive more than 14,000 new samples of food crop seeds from 21 genebanks.

About Svalbard Global Seed Vault

• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault aims to provide insurance against both incremental and catastrophic loss of crop diversity held in traditional genebanks around the world.
  • As of 2024, seed duplicates of 1,301,397 samples from almost every country globally have been safeguarded in the vault.
• Established: In February 2008
• Location: Island of Spitsbergen, of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway in the Arctic Ocean.
• Purpose: To serve as a backup storage for seed samples protecting them from natural disasters, war, and other events that could damage or destroy seed collections in other locations.
• Owned By: Norway and managed in partnership between the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the regional genebank, NordGen and Non Profit organisation, Crop Trust.
• Ownership of Seeds: The seed boxes are stored under the “black-box conditions,” meaning the depositors are the only ones who can withdraw their own seeds.
• Storage:
  • Capacity: The Seed Vault can store 4.5 million varieties of crops. A maximum of 2.5 billion seeds may be stored in the Seed Vault with each packet consisting of an average of 500 seeds.
  • Temperature: (−)18°C temperature is required for optimal storage of the seeds. 
  • Packaging: The seeds are sealed in custom-made three-ply foil packages, which are sealed inside boxes and stored on shelves inside the Seed Vault.
  • Low Metabolic Activity: The low temperature (permafrost) and moisture levels inside the Seed Vault ensure low metabolic activity, keeping the seeds viable for long periods of time.

India’s National Gene Bank

• Establishment: India’s first national gene bank was established in 1996 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research -National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBPGR) in New Delhi. 
• Capacity: The ICAR-NBPGR genebank holds 0.47 million units of germplasm entries including,
  • Cereals, millets, legumes, oilseeds and vegetables 
• 2nd National Gene Bank: It has been announced in the Budget for 2025-26  to protect India’s agricultural heritage by preserving native, traditional, and rare plant varieties.
  • The seed bank will align with global conservation efforts, including India’s Seed Vault in Chang La (Ladakh) and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norway).
• India’s Seed Vault: It is located in Chang La, Ladakh and serves as a backup for India’s crop diversity, storing over 5,000 seed accessions.
  • Set Up By: The vault is a joint effort by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).

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