World: Over 30,000 new seed samples were deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault for food security

(By Irri) More than 30,000 new seed samples from 23 depositors in 21 countries, including seven international gene banks, were deposited into the Svalbard Global Seed Vault yesterday to conserve crop diversity in the face of escalating climate change, conflicts, and more. This represents the highest number of depositors since the Seed Vault’s record of 35 gene banks in 2020. The deposit features first-of-its-kind contributions from gene banks in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Chad, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, and Suriname. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), an international gene bank based in India, has deposited 2,950 seeds from 56 species, including pearl millet, sorghum, and 28 wild relatives of groundnut (Arachis), nine of which are new to the Seed Vault. These wild relatives serve as a protein-rich feed source for livestock and contribute nitrogen to various agricultural systems. ICRISAT has also contributed seeds to a 100-year experiment in ...