18 000 new seed samples to Svalbard Global Seed Vault
News story | Date: 22/10/2025 | Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Eighteen genebanks representing every continent deposited more than 18,000 seed samples to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault this week. Among them were new contributors from the Philippines and Peru, safeguarding crops that embody generations of farmers’ knowledge and culture.
"Now - 130 gene banks in almost 90 countries, have added an additional level of security for their seed collections. I recognize all the efforts of the gene banks in sowing and preparing the seeds for shipping to the Arctic”, says Nils Kristen Sandtrøen, Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food.
The largest backup repository of crop diversity welcomed seeds of dietary staples such as Filipino rice and Peruvian chili peppers, as well as cultural icons like Ecuador’s chocho bean and Moroccan lavender. It received a major deposit from the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) genebank in Tanzania, which sent the largest-ever deposit of traditional African vegetable seeds to the Seed Vault.
This 68th deposit adds to the more than 1.3 million seed samples already stored in the Seed Vault. Located deep inside the Arctic permafrost on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the facility is managed by the Norwegian Government, Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) and the Crop Trust.
The largest shipment at this deposit event came from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), consisting of over 4,000 rice accessions representing traditional and climate-resilient varieties such as Dinorado and Milagrosa.
This deposit marked a milestone for WorldVeg’s African genebank, which plays a key role in conserving Africa’s rich vegetable diversity. Its latest shipment to Svalbard featured more than 3,000 seed samples of 109 crop species collected across 30 African countries. It included amaranth, jute mallow, Bambara groundnut, African eggplant and okra.
|
Seed deposits October 2025 |
Country |
Accessions |
Boxes |
Crops |
|
Accession lists confirmed |
||||
|
Philippine Rice Research Institute (new) |
Philippines |
4417 |
8 |
Rice |
|
World Vegetable Centre (Tanzania department) |
Taiwan |
3177 |
5 |
131 species of vegetables and legumes |
|
Australian Pastures Genebank [BOLD WP2] |
Australia |
3687 |
3 |
270 forage species, some new species for the Seed Vault |
|
ILRI |
Ethiopia |
1518 |
2 |
347 species, >50 new genera/species for the Seed Vault |
|
IHAR |
Poland |
1230 |
3 |
Barley and oat species / subspecies |
|
Station Federale de Recherches en Production Vegetale de Changins |
Switzerland |
921 |
6 |
81 crops, cereals, herbs and vegetables. E.g. 20 species of primrose / Oenothera that are new to the Seed Vault |
|
Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias [BOLD WP1] |
Ecuador |
890 |
10 |
Amaranth, Quinoa, Maize, Lupins & Beans |
|
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique [BOLD WP1] |
Morocco |
863 |
4 |
42 species, cereals, legumes, vegetables etc. |
|
Portuguese Bank of Plant Germplasm |
Portugal |
473 |
4 |
Maize, rye and barley |
|
NordGen |
Nordic countries |
381 |
1 |
66 species, cereals, forages, herbs, cwr m.fl. |
|
Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute |
Taiwan |
320 |
3 |
Vigna radiata (169), Setaria italica (55), Capsicum annuum (44), Hibiscus sabdariffa (18), Cucumis sativus (13), different Brassicas (18) and Arachis hypogaea L. (3) |
|
Czech Agrifood Research Center |
Czech Republic |
150 |
1 |
46 species, cereals, vegetables, legumes and herbs |
|
Suceava Genebank ”Mihai Cristea” |
Romania |
68 |
1 |
Maize |
|
Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava" |
Latvia |
67 |
1 |
27 species, forage, cereals, legumes and vegetables |
|
National Plant Genebank, Ministry of Agriculture |
Croatia |
47 |
1 |
Maize |
|
ICRISAT, BSF-project Malawi |
Malawi |
43 |
1 |
6 crops Groundnut, chickpea, pigeon pea, millets and sorghum |
|
Uzbek Research Institute of Plant Industry |
Uzbekistan |
20 |
1 |
Wheat and vegetables |
|
Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA) BSF-project (new) [BOLD WP1] |
Peru |
25 |
1 |
3 Capsicum species |
|
TOTAL |
18,314 |
|||
|
Accession lists/deposits not confirmed |
||||
|
SPGRC |
Zambia |
tbc |
||
|
ICARDA, BSF-project Ethiopia and Tunisia |
Morocco |
tbc |
||
|
ICARDA |
Morocco |
tbc |
||
|
ICRISAT |
India |
tbc |
||
The Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food is the legal and administrative body of the Seed Vault and has the overall responsibility for its management, security and funding. The Ministry has assigned Statsbygg, the key adviser on construction and property to the Norwegian Government, to be responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Seed Vault. For more information see Ministry of Agriculture and Food - regjeringen.no
NordGen is the Nordic countries’ genebank and knowledge center for genetic resources. As the operational manager of the Seed Vault, NordGen is responsible for handling the seeds inside the Seed Vault; communicating with genebanks; and maintaining a publicly accessible online database with information on the seed samples stored in the Seed Vault (seedvault.nordgen.org). Read more about NordGen
The Crop Trust is an international organization working to conserve crop diversity and thus protect global food and nutrition security. At the core of Crop Trust is an endowment fund dedicated to providing guaranteed long-term financial support to key genebanks worldwide. The Crop Trust supports the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and coordinates large-scale projects worldwide to secure crop diversity and make it available for use, globally forever and for the benefit of everyone. The Crop Trust is recognized as an essential element of the funding strategy of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Learn more at www.croptrust.org