Representatives of 23 gene banks, including Agroscope’s, were welcomed to Svalbard by Norway’s Minister of Agriculture. At the event, site upgrade works totalling EUR 11.5m were announced by the Norwegian government. In addition, delivery was taken of 70,000 new samples in the warehouse which today houses more than a million varieties. Switzerland sent two crates containing 719 plant specimens to Spitsbergen Island. Protected in aluminium packets, the samples contained seeds from ancient and new varieties of wheat, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), oats, rye, barley and spelt, as well as two sage varieties and an Italian parsley. The latter three varieties are the first Swiss medicinal and aromatic plants to enrich the Svalbard store. They were cultivated and maintained for over 30 years in Bassins (canton of Vaud) by Jean-Marc Genevay, a producer and processor of aromatic and medicinal plants.

Researchers and Farmers Work Together

Historically, farmers have used, maintained and managed biodiversity by producing and selecting their own seeds. Thanks to them, our local varieties have been adapted to different conditions, and are currently preserved in seed banks. It’s the collaboration between researchers such as Beate Schierscher-Viret – Head of the Agroscope Seed Bank – and farmers like Jean-Marc Genevay that enables us to identify, select and preserve our plant genetic heritage.

Preserving Varieties for Future Biodiversity

The diversity of plant genetic resources, whether natural or selected by humans, is vital for agriculture and for our diet. Present-day agricultural production is based on a relatively limited number of varieties which need to be enriched on a regular basis with plants that are disease-resistant, or better adapted to the climate. In particular, variety selection makes use of genetic material from gene banks that collect local varieties from farmers. The Agroscope Gene Bank is over a century old, and the varieties collected 120 years ago are still preserved and available. Regular exchanges take place with other banks and research centres as part of variety selection programmes.

United to Preserve Global Plant Genetic Heritage

Like other gene banks, Agroscope collaborates with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to preserve plant genetic diversity. Consequently, 9665 plant-seed samples stored in Changins are, for safety’s sake, also deposited in duplicate in this Noah’s Ark for plants in Norway, 1300km from the Arctic Circle. The Global Seed Vault’s mission is to protect plant genetic heritage in the event of loss of a local gene bank (due, for example, to technical failure, political decision, natural disaster, or the outbreak of war). The samples are kept, and remain the sole property of the depositor.

Agroscope Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Global Seed Vault