Palmira (Colombia), 15 Mar A seed bank that holds thousands of varieties to guarantee global food security and in which 17 million dollars were initially invested, was inaugurated on Tuesday by Colombian President Iván Duque in Palmira, department of Valle del Cauca. This is “Seeds of the Future”, the new genebank of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which can house 250,000 seeds, an initiative of the public and private sectors. The seed bank will work to preserve plant biodiversity, support agricultural research and continue to send bean seeds, cassava and tropical fodder to different parts of the world. The head of state highlighted that this project received an additional $17 million from Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, through his Bezos Earth Fund foundation. “That the Bezos Earth Fund has seen what this seed bank means and brings an additional $17 million (dollars), to what had already been the contributions of government, various foundations and international cooperation, is the validation that if anyone wants to see what applied science means to meet the challenges of the crisis climate, here is your answer,” Duque said. The Colombian ruler also said that the germplasm bank will allow seed varieties to be tolerant to climate change and ensure food security. In this regard, Duque assured that Colombia will be a supplier of “genetic material for the world's farmers.” For his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Rodolfo Zea, stressed that state-of-the-art initiatives such as “Seeds of the Future” will help maintain food security in Colombia. “Through innovation and technology, this bank will allow the conservation and sharing of genetic material with the world so that farmers can grow new varieties that are resistant to climate change,” explained the minister. Zea indicated that the bank has already achieved that rice, bean and corn seeds “are tolerant to extreme climatic conditions with technologies that reduce water use and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40%, increasing their yield by up to 20%.” He explained that “Seeds of the Future” had an initial investment of more than 17.2 million dollars, part of which was contributed by the Government and that the other 17 million dollars contributed by Bezos will strengthen the capacity of this program. NEW COLLECTIONS The new bank occupies an area of almost 24,000 square meters, of which 7,035 square meters are built and 6,428 square meters are roofed. The space will have the capacity to house more than 250,000 vital seeds for food. According to CIAT, the collections of beans, cassava and fodder seeds that will be transferred to this new bank have been collected over the past four decades in more than 140 countries and constitute a “real treasure of native species, varieties and breeds”. There will be 6,155 varieties of cassava that have helped farmers improve yields and produce more nutritious roots. Also 37,938 varieties of beans and 22,694 of fodder that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce pollution in water. GENETIC LIBRARY Additionally, Minister Zea said that the “Seeds of the Future” facility will also serve as a genetic library to further develop new varieties of nutritious crops that adapt to specific growing conditions around the world. It will also allow free samples to be distributed to farmers and researchers around the world and will strengthen the capacities of small farmers to adapt to climate change and variability.
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