OSLO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has deposited 773 seed samples in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway's Arctic archipelago, marking its first contribution to the facility since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022, the Norwegian government said Wednesday.
The deposit on Tuesday was part of an international effort that delivered more than 16,000 seed samples from 21 genebanks to the vault, according to a statement from Norway's Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
The latest Ukrainian deposit included samples of buckwheat and other crops, providing an additional safeguard for the country's agricultural genetic resources.
Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food Nils Kristen Sandtroen said the latest deposit demonstrated the importance of international cooperation in protecting global crop diversity.
Six international agricultural research genebanks under CGIAR contributed a total of 8,917 samples, while Italy's Council for Agricultural Research and Economics made its first deposit, including historic wheat and rice varieties.
Established by the Norwegian government in 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault provides free long-term storage for backup copies of seed collections from genebanks around the world.
Located inside a mountain on the island of Spitsbergen, the vault now holds more than 1.4 million seed samples belonging to over 130 genebanks, making it the world's largest secure repository of cultivated crop diversity.
The facility is funded by the Norwegian government and operated in partnership with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.
