A seed is a little instruction manual full of information telling us how to grow food. Seed banks are special places where these can be stored safely for many years. crop diversity is very important because it provides a large variety of crops such as rice, wheat, maize, beans and vegetables. If we lose crop diversity our food system becomes more vulnerable.
What Are Seed Banks?
A hundred years ago farmers would grow their own local varieties in every region. Local varieties would have different tastes, colours and strengths. Some would be flood proof whilst others would be drought resistant and some would be pest proof. Now we are using a limited amount of high yielding varieties and therefore most areas of land will have the same crop. This can cause issues as if a new disease affects one of our popular crops millions of people could be affected.
Old and rare varieties contain the characteristics needed to solve this issue. An old bean from a village may have the perfect strength that our modern crops don’t have! Seed banks provide us with a variety of options to use.
How Crop Diversity Is Preserved Around The World
•Seeds can be collected from farms, forests and research stations.
•The seeds are then washed, dried and put into air tight packets.
•These are stored in cold storage often at -18 degrees Celcius.
•Regular checks are done on samples. Old stocks are planted to create new seeds.
Each country also plays a part. Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway has copies of seeds from seed banks around the world. The depositors own the boxes inside. In 2015 a research centre affected by the conflict in Syria were able to restore their collection using the copies. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources ensures seeds are shared fairly between countries.
We can also help! Eat traditional food items, support your local seed library and if you have a garden/balcony, try growing a local variety. Seed banks are great for protecting our history but trying to make choices in our daily lives will help protect crop diversity.
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