Ghana secures 422 crop genetic samples in world's largest seed vault in Norway
Ghana has deposited 422 germplasm accessions at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway to safeguard the country's plant genetic resources against threats such as climate change, pests and disease outbreaks.
The initiative was undertaken by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research–Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute (CSIR-PGRRI) at Bunso in the Eastern Region, which spent about US$15,000 to duplicate and preserve the genetic materials under an international conservation programme aimed at protecting crop diversity for future generations.
Speaking in an interview, the Deputy Director of CSIR-PGRRI, Dr Rashied Tetteh, said the safety duplication exercise was essential to securing Ghana's valuable plant genetic resources against emerging environmental and biological threats.
"Ghana had the opportunity to safely duplicate the materials in October 2023 through the support of the Global Crop Diversity Trust in Germany, and we were able to duplicate about 422 accessions of our germplasm," he said.
He explained that the duplicated materials have since been deposited at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, where they serve as a secure global backup of Ghana's crop genetic resources.
Dr Tetteh disclosed that Ghana was one of five African countries selected to participate in the Seeds for Resilience Project, alongside Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
"Five countries were selected from Africa, and each country was asked to select the species of interest," he said. "We therefore had the opportunity to select five crop species for safety duplication."
The selected crops include maize, rice, cassava, cowpea and indigenous garden egg varieties, all of which are staple food crops with high demand for research and crop improvement programmes.
According to Dr Tetteh, the crops were chosen because they are among the most frequently requested species from the national gene bank for scientific research and plant breeding.
"The decision that informed the selection was that, at the gene bank, those are the crops that are highly demanded for research purposes and therefore crop improvement," he explained.
Before the seeds were shipped to Norway, Ghana completed a first-level duplication process at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria, in line with international conservation standards.
"Prior to depositing the seeds at the global seed vault, there was the need for a backup. You also have to have a first-level duplication outside our jurisdiction. Ghana had the opportunity to duplicate at IITA in Nigeria," he said.
Dr Tetteh noted that duplicating and preserving genetic materials is an expensive exercise, which limited the number of accessions Ghana could deposit.
"Duplications cost us about US$15,000 to undertake this activity. That's why the number of accessions duplicated was limited," he stated.
He added that before the materials were deposited abroad, Ghana signed an agreement guaranteeing the country's right to retrieve the seeds whenever they are required.
Dr Tetteh said the arrangement is particularly important because maintaining germplasm collections at optimal storage temperatures locally remains a challenge due to funding constraints.
He stressed that safety duplication is a vital component of protecting genetic diversity and enhancing the country's resilience to climate change and other future threats.
According to him, the collections stored at both the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and IITA provide multiple layers of protection, ensuring Ghana's plant genetic resources remain secure and accessible even if the national gene bank is affected by unforeseen events.
"This serves as a secure global backup to protect Ghana's invaluable plant genetic resources for future generations," Dr Tetteh said.
"The first level of duplication deposited at IITA in Nigeria provides another layer of security, ensuring that Ghana's plant genetic resources remain protected and accessible."
-GNA