Seed Banks
A seed bank is a kind of gene bank that stores seeds of food crops or any rare species of plants. Seed banks protect us against the extinction of plant species due to natural catastrophes, outbreak of diseases and even deliberate non-use for a long time. Seed banks make our diminishing biodiversity available to future generations.
-
Seeds in a seed bank are dried to suitably low moisture content and stored at -18°C or below. The bank also documents the plan’s identity, sampling location, seed quantity, farming systems in which the crop was grown etc.
-
Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a facility on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean and it houses the world’s largest collection of seeds. The seeds can be used in event of global catastrophe or when some species is lost due to natural disasters; hence it called the doomsday vault.
-
India’s seed vault is located at Chang La, Ladakh in the Himalayas which stores over 5000 seed accessions (One accession consists of a set of seeds of one species collected from different locations or different populations).
-
The vault is a joint venture of National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (which comes under Indian Council of Agriculture Research) and the Defense Institute of High-Altitude Research (under Defense Research and Development Organization).
ADVANTAGES OF SEED BANKS
- Ease of storage
- Economy of Space: Can store a very large amount of plant genetic material in a small space
- Relatively low labor demands
DISADVANTAGES OF SEED BANKS
-
Because seed RNA degrades with time, the seeds need to be periodically replanted and fresh seeds to be collected for another round of long-term storage.
-
Fire accidents or power failures can permanently damage the seeds.
-
Seeds in a bank do not evolve in relationship to outer circumstances. When they are later re-introduced into the field, they may be less fit for survival.
-
Ultimately, seed banks can only store a small part of global biodiversity.
-
Seed bank is an expensive option for poor countries.