How long can seeds stay alive? That question is crucial for seed gene banks and research institutes working with plants and seeds.
Therefore, a new seed longevity experiment has started in the Global Seed Vault. The experiment comprises seeds of 13 globally important crops, produced by project partners from all over the world, including Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), and is planned to go on for a hundred of years from now on.
The first experimental seed samples will be brought into the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the 27th of August. These first test sets consist of seeds produced at the IPK Gatersleben. “We contribute a total of five crops - wheat, barley, pea, lettuce and cabbage. The material was grown on our experimental fields in the last year”, says Prof. Dr. Andreas Börner from the Genebank department at IPK Gatersleben. “The IPK is the first institution to provide seeds. The other partners will follow next year.”
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