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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What's new
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
- 125,000 cervids tested for Chronic Wasting Disease News story 30/03/2021
- Infections from animals and the environment to humans − a growing problem News story 12/03/2021
- 13th Berlin Agriculture Ministers' Conference 22 January 2021 Speech/statement 22/01/2021
- Food makes peace Speech/statement 30/12/2020
- A Task for Eternity News story 02/11/2020
- A Task for Eternity Speech/statement 02/11/2020
- Successful seed deposit despite the pandemic News story 30/10/2020
- Norway observes the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste News story 08/10/2020
Documents
Latest documents
- NOU 2019: 18 - Chapter 1: Introduction and summary Norwegian Official Report (NOU) 04/11/2019
- Meld. St. 27 (2018–2019) - Norway’s Role and Interests in Multilateral Cooperation Report to the Storting 14/06/2019
- The Norwegian Government's Updated Ocean Strategy Plans/strategy 03/06/2019
- National Pollinator Strategy Plans/strategy 04/10/2018
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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