In late October, Peru marked a historic milestone as the Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA) made its first-ever seed deposit at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. This global repository, managed by NordGen, received over 21,000 seed samples from 20 genebanks worldwide in its third and final deposit of the year — representing every continent except the Arctic and Antarctica.
Among the 76 boxes added to Svalbard’s frozen chambers were Peruvian chili varieties, alongside rice from the Philippines, traditional African vegetables, and Nordic cereals. INIA’s participation symbolizes Peru’s growing role in global efforts to preserve agricultural biodiversity and secure the genetic heritage of crops for future generations.
Representing Peru at the event, INIA Director Jorge Juan Ganoza Roncal highlighted the significance of the occasion, noting that by contributing to Svalbard, Peru is helping to safeguard not just seeds, but the foundation of life and food security itself. The act, he emphasized, reflects a spirit of shared global responsibility and collaboration across borders, according to a press release.
The October deposit also featured major contributions from institutions such as the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), which sent over 4,000 unique rice varieties, and the World Vegetable Center’s Eastern and Southern Africa division, which added more than 3,000 seed samples from around 30 African nations. NordGen also contributed 381 seed samples covering 66 plant species, including cereals, forages, and crop wild relatives.
Peru’s participation in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault underscores its commitment to preserving biodiversity, ensuring food security, and collaborating in global agricultural innovation for the benefit of future generations.
Facts – Participating Genebanks:
- Philippine Rice Research Institute – Philippines
- World Vegetable Center (Tanzania) – Headquarters in Taiwan
- Australian Pastures Genebank – Australia
- International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) – India
- International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) – Ethiopia
- Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR) – Poland
- SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre (SPGRC) – Zambia
- Station Federale de Recherches en Production Vegetale de Changins – Switzerland
- Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP) – Ecuador
- Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) – Morocco
- Portuguese Bank of Plant Germplasm – Portugal
- Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) – The Nordic countries
- Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute – Taiwan
- Czech Agrifood Research Center – Czech Republic
- Suceava Genebank “Mihai Cristea” – Romania
- Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” – Latvia
- National Plant Genebank, Ministry of Agriculture – Croatia
- ICRISAT – Malawi division
- Uzbek Research Institute of Plant Industry – Uzbekistan
- Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA) – Peru
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world’s largest backup facility for the crop diversity stored in the world’s genebanks.
- It is owned by Norway and operated by three partners; the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Crop Trust and NordGen.
- The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a black-box long-term safety deposit of crop diversity open to all qualifying institutions around the world.
- Ownership of seeds remains with the depositor and only the depositor can withdraw their seeds and open the boxes.
