"Protecting genetic diversity essential for future of food security"
According to The Crop Trust, one of the tripartite organizations which established and now manages the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the objective of this unique storage facility is to safeguard seed samples from around the world.
“The Vault is the ultimate insurance policy for the world’s food supply, offering options for future generations to overcome the challenges of climate change and population growth. It will secure, for centuries, millions of seeds representing every important crop variety available in the world today. It is the final back up,” the Trust states on its website.
Mary Ann Sayoc, Group Lead Public Affairs at East-West Seed and Board executive of the Crop Trust, visited the seed vault in 2014.
“It was amazing to see such an impressive facility in person, especially when you consider the magnitude of responsibility it carries,” Dr Sayoc says.
Promoting genetic diversity closer to home
8,000 kilometres away from the icy Vault - on a farm in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand - lies the East-West Seed Skunk farm.
The farm shares similar goals to the Vault. It was designed to preserve indigenous Thai crops that were potentially close to disappearing from the local landscape, including purple varieties of butterfly peas, wing beans, and lablab. By promoting these varieties, EWS ensures farmers have access to high quality seeds from Thailand that are suited to the needs of the local market.
Lamai Yapanan, Business Development Manager for East-West Seed’s Hortigenetics Research centre in Chiang Mai explains: “With this project, we hope to boost the cultivation of indigenous vegetables which will also serve as an important genetic resource for future food crops or other plant-derived products.”
This project was launched in 2017, the 35th Anniversary of East-West Seed, to help Thai smallholder farmers continue cultivating important indigenous crops, for which there were no high quality commercial seeds available previously.
The benefits of indigenous vegetable seeds
“Furthermore, these crops are better adapted to the local geography and climate, they tend to resist damage from drought and common diseases, helping the farmers reduce cultivation risks and grow their income as a result of higher yields,” says Yapanan.
For more information:
East-West Seed
No. 50/1 Moo 2, Sainoi-Bang Bua
Thong Rd, Amphur Sainoi, Nonthaburi
11150, THAILAND
T: +66 (02) 831 7700
F: +66 (02) 923 7794
inter@eastwestseed.com
www.eastwestseed.com