Food, fisheries and agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has chief responsibility for food policy and agricultural policy. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has chief responsibility for fisheries and the aquaculture industry, seafood safety and fish health and welfare.
A global backstop
The vault hold the seeds of many tens of thousands of varieties of essential food crops such as beans, wheat and rice. In total, the vault now holds seeds of more than 4000 plant species. These seed samples are duplicates of seed sample stores in national, regional and international gene banks.
Reindeer husbandry
Reindeer husbandry is a small industry on a national scale, but in Saami and local communities it is of great importance for the economy, employment and culture. The aim is to ensure that the Reindeer trade in Norway is ecologically, economically and culturally sustainable.
Soil protection
Compared to many other countries, Norway has limited areas of arable land. Safeguarding food production requires strong soil protection measures, combined with better utilization of available farmland.However, soil conservation must be balanced against other requirements. Facing future challenges, therefore, requires a comprehensive soil protection strategy.
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A Task for Eternity
02/11/2020: Deep inside a mountain on an island in the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, more than one million seeds of crops from around the world are stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The storage facility thus contains the world’s largest backup collection of seed samples. By establishing the Seed Vault, Norway has taken on a global task that will never be completed. The best way to manage this responsibility is to do so in an eternal perspective.
Successful seed deposit despite the pandemic
30/10/2020: In the midst of the ongoing global pandemic, gene banks are sending backup copies of their seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This week, around 15,000 new bags of seeds from eight gene banks were safely placed on the shelves in the seed vault.
Latest news
- Food Systems Summit Speech/statement 23/09/2021
- Seed security at the UN Food Systems Summit News story 05/07/2021
- The government presents its marine report, “Blue Oceans, Green Future” Press release 01/07/2021
- Securing the Gene Pool for Future Agriculture and Food Production News story 22/06/2021
- Intervention Norway FAO Conference 14-18 June 2021 Speech/statement 15/06/2021
- New shipment of seeds to Svalbard Global Seed Vault News story 03/06/2021
- Norway establishes a national quota for Northeast Atlantic Mackerel for 2021 Press release 27/05/2021
- Presented on Thursday April 15. at the ministerial round table meeting - 8th Ministerial Conference - Forest Europe Speech/statement 15/04/2021
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Contact
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
E-mail: postmottak@lmd.dep.no
Phone: (+47) 22 24 90 90
Address: Postboks 8007 Dep. , 0030 Oslo
Visitor address: Teatergata 9 (R6), Oslo