Crucial genebank collection in Ukraine moved to safe location far from the war

2023.05.03

In a complex operation initially supported by NordGen and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, FAO and EU have joined forces to relocate unique plant genetic resources from the genebank in Kharkiv to a location safe from the ongoing war. Now, the work to further safeguard the unique seeds of the world’s breadbasket continues, as a plan for duplicating the seeds to Svalbard Global Seed Vault is being developed.

Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, NordGen has taken part of a task force providing emergency support to the genebank in Kharkiv after shelling damaged infrastructure, agricultural machinery, and seed collections at field research stations.

“As soon as we were reached by the news that the invaluable seeds of the Ukraine genebank were at risk, we were a small European group that took contact with our colleagues in Kharkiv. We rapidly understood the seriousness of the situation and what was at stake”, says Lise Lykke Steffensen, Executive Director of NordGen. With financial support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, NordGen managed to transfer funds for the salaries of the genebank employees and send equipment required to meet the most imminent needs to secure the germplasms in the genebank. When NordGen hosted the European network for plant genetic resources in June 2022, further support was expressed for the Ukrainian situation, and a bridging project was launched.

“Already then, it was apparent that the entire collection would need to be relocated. It was in too grave danger in Kharkiv”, says Lise Lykke Steffensen who adds that the emergency project wouldn’t have been possible without the support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

“Plant genetic resources are extremely vital components of biodiversity. The Ukrainian plant resources are unique and comprehensive, and we are proud to support this extremely important initiative”, says Senior Vice President Mikkel Skovborg of The Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Complex operation

The emergency project transcended to a bridging project which led to the recently accomplished but complex operation of relocating the collection of plant genetic resources, including cataloguing the seeds. The operation was conducted by several national Ukraine’s Academy of Agrarian Sciences, the International Plant Treaty and the Crop Trust, one of NordGen’s partners in operating the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The collection is now situated at a safe place in the west of Ukraine, some thousand kilometers from Kharkiv.

“This initiative makes an important contribution to safeguarding future food production and resilient livelihoods in Ukraine, and supports the critical role it plays in global food security”, said Pierre Vauthier, Head of FAO’s Ukraine country office.

The next step now is to ensure a sustainable solution in the long-term, by improving the information system containing data about the seeds and duplicate and safeguard the seeds in at least two locations, one of which should be the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

“Currently, about 2700 seed samples from the Ukraine genebank are deposited in the Seed Vault, which is the world’s largest backup facility for crop diversity. The Seed Vault has already proven its worth in a similar situation, when ICARDA’s seed collections in Syria were relocated”, says Åsmund Asdal, Seed Vault Coordinator at NordGen.

The relocation of ICARDA’s seed collections in the Aleppo genebank to new genebanks in Morocco and Lebanon is a success story of the Seed Vault showing how important it is to safety duplicate seeds that are needed to adapt our agriculture to future demands and contribute to global food supply.

“The relocation of the seed collections of the National Genebank in Kharkiv is an excellent example of how the world, by joining forces for a common cause, can save biodiversity. But we can’t rest just yet. More needs to be done to create a higher level of security for these seeds. And we at NordGen will continue to help”, says Lise Lykke Steffensen.