Colombia's new seed bank to support agriculture of the future

Published Mar 30, 2022

Tridge summary

The article introduces the inauguration of the Seeds of the Future gene bank in Palmira, Colombia, a collaboration between the Alliance of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Biodiversity International. Funded by the Bezos Earth Fund and featuring advanced facilities including seed modules, digital and in vitro labs, and cryopreservation capabilities, the bank aims to safeguard global crop diversity, understand genetic traits for more nutritious and pest-resistant crops, and share seeds and information with global partners. The bank also plans to improve storage and research capacity, addressing the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss in agriculture. It operates under the CGIAR umbrella, focusing on improving food security through research on improved crop varieties, biofortification of rice, beans, and corn, and operates with environmentally friendly features like rainwater harvesting and solar panels.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

PALMIRA, Colombia , Mar 30 2022 (IPS) - As he points to a white shelf that holds bean seeds, Austrian biologist Peter Wenzl explains that one of them, obtained in Ecuador, provided a gene for the discovery that major seed protein arcelin offers resistance to the bean weevil. The finding made it possible to develop varieties tolerant to this common pest and thus avoid substantial losses in one of the crops that feed humanity. “Our aim is to do research, to understand the development of improved varieties. The seed bank is genetic insurance for the future,” said the biologist, who directs the germplasm bank of the Alliance of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Biodiversity International. They are two of the 15 scientific centers of the CGIAR, formerly the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a consortium of food research organizations promoting food security that is based in Montpellier, France. The new gene bank, Seeds of the Future, ...

Source: Ipsnews