Crop Genebank Knowledge Base

From IRRI to Svalbard

After months of preparation by staff of the Genetic Resources Center (GRC) at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), led by its head Dr. Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton, a replicate set of the Global Rice Collection from 123 countries held by IRRI left on 21 January for the Svalbard Global Seed Vault or Doomsday Vault. See http://www.croptrust.org/main/arctic.... for more information on the global effort.

IRRI is contributing the largest number of accessions for a crop (70,180) and the largest estimated number of seeds (35,577,576).

"All involved have shown excellent commitment, making this a very successful project, and I would like to give a very big thank you to everyone who has contributed," said Dr. Sackville Hamilton. The IRRI shipment will be the first to arrive in Oslo, Norway, and the first to be deposited in the vault at Svalbard.

The video below (9MB) shows GRC staff members preparing and loading 99 seed containers into a FedEx truck and the truck's departure.