Crops' Genetic Diversity Stored in "Doomsday Vault"

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) added 42,627 seed samples of various types of rice in its collection kept in the Scalbard Global Seed Vault, informally called as "Doomsday Vault" because it houses "all of the world's important crop seeds that may be humanity's ultimate insurance in food security in the event of a major regional or global crisis." The conditions inside the vault would enable storage of the seeds for hundreds of years. The vault was inaugurated in February 2008 and IRRI first deposited 70,180 rice samples.

"IRRI shares seed from the IRG for free with farmers, farmers' groups, governments, universities, and others under conditions set by the International Treaty on Plant Genetics Resources for Food and Agriculture," said Dr. Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton, head of IRRI's International Rice Genebank (IRG). "One hundred twenty-six countries signed this Treaty that ensures the fair sharing of benefits from the use of these resources."

Read the complete story at http://irri.org/news-events/media-releases/current-releases/genetic-diversity-of-rice-now-secure-in-doomsday-vault.