More than half of the wild relatives of 29 globally important crops are not adequately conserved in seed banks

Crop Biotech Update

Collaborative Study Analyses Gentic Diversity of Major Crops' Wild Relatives 

"A project led by the Germany-based Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom has analyzed 455 crop wild relatives around the world. The said study revealed that 54 percent among these wild crops are underrepresented in gene bank collections — and that many, including ones at risk of extinction, have never been collected.

The analysis identified crop species - including potato, apple, aubergine, carrot and sunflower - that have high numbers of relatives yet to be collected and some crops, such as sorghum and bananas, that have few, if any, relatives secured in collections." Read more..

Weeds warrant urgent conservation

"Report finds that more than half of the wild relatives of 29 globally important crops are not adequately conserved in seed banks". Read more..

One in five of the world’s plants are threatened
with extinction.

Read more..