About
- A gene bank is a repository of genetic material, such as seeds, pollen or tissue samples, collected from different plant species in order to protect them from potential extinction and preserve vital varieties for future generations.
- India’s first gene bank was set up in 1996 by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBPGR) in New Delhi. This bank is comprised of 12 regional stations across the country for collection and storage of vital crop germplasms. These germplasms are the genetic constituents of plants or animals that is used in research, conservation and crop breeding.
- The Ministry of Finance has announced the establishment of a second National GenBank in the 2025-26 budget to safeguard India’s agricultural biodiversity. This facility will house 10 lakh (1 million) germplasm lines, offering critical conservation support for both public and private sectors involved in genetic resource management.
Do you know ?
- The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, often called the “Doomsday Vault,” is built inside a mountain on an Arctic island in Norway and can withstand nuclear war, earthquakes, and rising sea levels. It holds over 1.2 million seed samples from almost every country, acting as a backup for global agriculture in case of disasters like climate change, war, or natural catastrophes. Even war-torn Syria was the first country to withdraw seeds from the vault in 2015 to revive crops lost during the conflict!