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Volume 7, Issue 5 (Suppl)
J Biotechnol Biomater
ISSN: 2155-952X JBTBM, an open access journal
Biotechnology 2017
November 13-14, 2017
November 13-14, 2017 Osaka, Japan
19
th
World Congress on
Biotechnology
Seed-bank information systems: An international perspective
Deva E Reddy
Texas A&M University, USA
I
t is conceivable that humans can live without animals but it is inconceivable that animals and humans can live without plants.
Unfortunately, seeds are getting extinct caused by varied reasons such as climate change, radio activation, endangering in
the wrong environment, droughts, volcanic eruptions, poor agricultural practices etc. As a panacea, seed banks have been
established for prosperity and posterity. A seed bank preserves seeds as a repository for future planting in case seed reserves
elsewhere are destroyed. It is similar to gene bank to guard biodiversity. Storing seeds also guards against catastrophic events
like natural disasters, outbreaks of disease or war. Over the years several seed banks have been established. The best example is
Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a secure seed bank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen about 810 miles from the North
Pole. The Global Crop Diversity Trust, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations played vital role in establishing this underground vault. This Doomsday
vault is a global backup system for the planet's plant resources. There are currently about 1,400 seed banks worldwide in
various countries for specific crops such as cassava, forages, beans, cowpea, soybean, yam, rice, potatoes, peanuts etc. It is
worth noting that of the more than one million seed samples distributed, seed contributions from CGIAR gene banks have
helped agricultural recovery after conflict and natural disasters in many countries. This paper presents an overview of major
seed banks worldwide, differentiates these banks from commercial seed banks, discusses typology of these banks, and outlines
strengths and weaknesses of community seed banks in developing countries.
devaereddy@tamu.eduJ Biotechnol Biomater 2017, 7:5 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2155-952X-C1-083