Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old June 19, 2006   #1
Rena
Tomatovillian™
 
Rena's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Warm Springs, GA
Posts: 1,421
Default VERY VERY COOL

Updated:2006-06-19 15:01:22
Work Begins in Arctic on Global Seed Bank
By James Kilner
Reuters
LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (June 19) - Work began in the Arctic on Monday on building a global bank of crop seeds that scientists hope will prevent the extinction of unique species such as those lost in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.


The underground vault on a remote island will hold about 1.5 billion seeds and 3 million varieties in a reinforced concrete tunnel drilled 70 meters (230 feet) into a mountain, guarded by two steel doors and controlled remotely from Sweden.


"This seed bank is of global importance," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at the ceremony to mark the start of construction on a windswept mountain on the Svalbard archipelago overlooking fjords and glaciers.


"It's our final safety net. If seeds stored in a commercial gene bank are destroyed, and this has apparently happened about 40 times to date, the contents of this gene bank will make it possible to replace the seeds which have been lost," he said.


Lying about 1,000 km (600 miles) from the North Pole, Svalbard is a desolate, treeless archipelago where farming is impossible. Norway controls the islands and has agreed to pay the $3 million construction bill.


The Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust, headed by American Cary Fowler, will manage the site when it opens next year.


The trust is a joint initiative of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to support crop diversity and help secure food for the world's population.


"This is a very remote location, you need that for security purposes," Fowler said. "Also Svalbard is operated by the Norwegian authorities, there is good infrastructure here, the Norwegians are volunteering to build the facility and it offers this tremendous advantage of permafrost."


The vault's temperature would be maintained at minus 18 degrees Celsius (-0.4 Fahrenheit), the optimum for seed preservation, Fowler said, and if the power failed the natural permafrost would keep the temperature below freezing.


If a crop type is lost through natural disaster or war and a seed bank is destroyed, a government could request replacement seeds from the vault, Fowler said.


There were hundreds of different unknown gene types among crops that could be adapted in the future to cope with environmental changes and population pressures, he said.


Fowler told Reuters that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the 1994 genocide in Rwanda wiped out dozens of unique crops and destroyed those countries' national seed banks, which meant the genes had been lost for ever.


"You can use the word extinction in this case," he said.


This would no longer occur once the seed bank opened, he said.


Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
06/19/06 08:51 ET
Rena is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 19, 2006   #2
kimpossible
Tomatovillian™
 
kimpossible's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Z5b SW Ont Canada
Posts: 767
Default

That IS very cool. I have an iPod & subscribe to alot of different Podcasts that I can download & listen to at work (Automotive - borrrrrriiiiiiing), or in the garden, and one of them is Nature Podcast, & they did a short story about this.

Thanks for that more detailed article.

I think it is wonderful that they have the foresight & initiative to do this.
__________________
So Many Tomatoes ... So Little Time
kimpossible is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 19, 2006   #3
Lee
Tomatopalooza™ Moderator
 
Lee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NC-Zone 7
Posts: 2,185
Default

I'll offer a to send 'em some Orange Heirloom seeds.

Don't want to loose that one!

Lee
Lee is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:10 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★