The Bulgarian Ambassador to Norway Deposits Seeds from Sadovo in the Global Seed Vault

On 12 October 2022, the Bulgarian Ambassador to Norway, Vera Shatilova, deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway, 1,186 accessions from 16 genera and 33 plant species, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria reports.

The seeds, a total of 678,498, were provided by the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources "Konstantin Malkov" – Sadovo. Ninety-five percent of the deposited accessions are Bulgarian, and the materials are unique; they include local populations of durum wheat, maize and barley resistant to biotic and abiotic stress, as well as old wheat varieties that were widely used in the past. Also finding their place in the Svalbard Seed Vault were the old lettuce varieties “Ira” and “Yellow Beauty”, rich in phosphorus, potassium and iron, as well as in vitamins C, A and B1. Of particular interest among the deposited seeds are the wild relatives of wheat – wild einkorn and Aegilops, as well as seeds from the tastiest and most aromatic old tomato varieties preserved and cultivated to this day in Bulgaria – the varieties “Buffalo Heart” and “Ideal”.

Where the plant genetic reserve of the planet is stored

The Institute of Plant Genetic Resources at the Agricultural Academy is the national coordinator for the conservation of the diversity of cultivated plants and their wild relatives within the framework of the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR).

The National Gene Bank, established in 1984 with the financial support of FAO and with the primary task of acting as the central depository for plant germplasm in the country, is located on the premises of the Institute. It includes local populations and primitive varieties, rare and endangered species of the Bulgarian flora, breeding varieties and lines of different geographical origin. Today, the National Gene Bank ensures the safe storage of seed accessions of over 600 plant species and the regulated exchange of germplasm within the international system of gene banks.

The National Seed Gene Bank with new equipment and an intelligent information system

The conservation of unique Bulgarian accessions necessitates their duplication in a gene bank outside the country. Under an agreement signed between the Institute in Sadovo and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Kingdom of Norway, a procedure was launched for duplicating seed germplasm in the Global Seed Vault on the Svalbard archipelago. The first shipment with selected accessions was deposited in October 2014. 

The Seed Vault in Norway stores samples from all over the world, making it the most diverse collection of crops and an insurance policy in the event of drastic changes in the climatic and phytosanitary environment and crisis situations caused by natural disasters and cataclysms.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs