The apocalypse tunnel received 14,000 new seed samples

More than 14,000 newly added crop seedlings are added to the apocalypse tunnel located on the island in Svalbard, Norway this week. These seeds are part of the project launched in 2008 to store thousands of essential plant species on the planet, ensuring the source of food and biodiversity in the future when the world becomes unstable with prolonged conflicts and challenges from climate change, IFL Science On February 26, reported.

New samples include some basic flowering seeds from a collection in Sudan almost destroyed due to prolonged civil war. The gene bank in Sudan is located in the city of Wad Medani that had 17,000 seeds in the collection. However, in the conflict, the army raided this facility caused many seeds to be scattered or lost. Among the seeds sent in Svalbard this week, there are many Millet cereals and vermicelli rice, the crops grown in the region for thousands of years, both an important food source and cultural identity.

The new seed lot also contains forest cat bean samples (Mucuna pruriens) From Malawi. According to Nolipher Mponya, a agricultural research scientist working for the Malawi government, the protection of domestic seeds not only reduces the risk of food crisis at local, regional and global levels, but also benefits pollination species, population health and economy.

The Philippines also sent seeds to Svalbard. The country’s seed bank was heavily devastated by a level 4 storm and a big fire. The Philippines ranked No. 1 in terms of world risk index that reflects the level of easily affected by the natural extreme event. “Genetic diversity disappears quickly, making the conservation work more important than ever,” said researcher Hidelisa de Chavez at the University of Philippines, shared.

The anti -apocalypse tunnel in 2008, lasting 120 m into the mountain. The tunnel may contain a maximum of 2.5 billion seeds. This is the place where the world’s largest collection of agricultural biodiversity. Seeds are stored at constant -18 ° C to avoid damage. The permanent ice layer forms a natural refrigerator. Even without electricity, the temperature in the tunnel will gradually stabilize at -8 ° C, low enough to maintain the seed quality for decades. Carefully packed the seeds in a three -layer bag and locked them into the barrel, before transporting to the underground tunnel. After placing it inside, the barrels cannot be opened as well as removed by anyone, except for the seed agency.