With three types of alfalfa sourced from large countries like Canada and China, the seed vault’s storage helps genebanks ensure future biodiverse alfalfa production not only for the crop itself, but for the other crops it supports.Ĭhickpea seeds from countries primarily in the Middle East and South Asia sit in the vault protected from future genebank disasters. Storing nearly 1 million seeds from genebanks worldwide in a cave at -18 degrees Celsius, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault ensures that if a genebank’s seeds vanish or fall into ruin, much the world’s biodiversity will still remain helping ensure food security.įood Tank is excited to highlight 15 crops under the Svalbard Global Seed Vault’s protection.Īlfalfa plays important roles in soil health, insect diversity, and irrigation efficiency on sustainable farms across the world. Recognizing the important role these genebanks play, but also their susceptibility to local political crises and natural disasters, the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, five additional ministries, NordGen, and the Crop Trust prepared and planned a global seed vault in Svalbard. The millions of samples genebanks have collected provide a means to protect diversity for plant breeders in the future who may want to harness specific qualities and capabilities from crops-like drought resistance, heat resistance, and natural pest-resistance. Seed genebanks across the world like the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, NordGen, and The World Vegetable Center preserve genetic material of biodiverse plants by stocking seeds and freezing plant trimmings.

“So when you go to supermarkets and see thousands of different products, you’ll actually find that just a few crops have contributed to whatever is in it.” Out of the roughly 30,000 plant species that exist, “60 percent of calories globally come from four crops: rice, wheat, corn, and potatoes,” says Marie Haga, Executive Director of Crop Trust. Walk into almost any grocery store around the globe and you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of products, but this diversity is misleading.

Seed vault