FAO and the EU support relocation of Ukraine’s national seed collection to a secure site

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with support from the European Union (EU), has moved a collection of unique plant genetic samples from Kharkiv in the east of Ukraine to a safe location in the west of the country, over 1,000 km away. 

In a press release, the EU Delegation to Ukraine says the volume and diversity of the plant genetic material contained in the seed collection, some of which is not available at any other seed bank, “makes it unique and essential to Ukrainian agriculture and to global food security”.

“As of 2021, Ukraine estimated that it held more than 150,000 plant genetic materials belonging to 544 crop varieties and 1,802 species of plants. The collection contains 39,000 unique genetic samples originating from Ukraine. Crop scientists consider preserving Ukraine’s collections of wheat, triticale, barley, pea, chickpea, temperate forages, and sunflower is of critical importance for global crops,” says the EU.

The Kharkiv National Gene Bank was in imminent danger of loss when shelling in May 2022 damaged infrastructure, agricultural machinery, and some of the working seed collections at field research stations.

With EU funding, FAO experts will support the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine to develop and implement a plan for long-term preservation and safe reproduction of genetic resources, including future storage in the World Seed Storage in Svalbard. At the same time, construction of an additional storage facility in western Ukraine has begun.

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Press release