On an island 1,300 kilometres from the North Pole is Norway’s Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It stores nearly one million seed samples — everything from apples and tomatoes to forage grasses and orchids, essentially a back-up copy of the world’s plants. (Photo: CROP TRUST)
On an island 1,300 kilometres from the North Pole is Norway’s Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It stores nearly one million seed samples — everything from apples and tomatoes to forage grasses and orchids, essentially a back-up copy of the world’s plants. (Photo: CROP TRUST)
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On an island 1,300 kilometres from the North Pole is Norway’s Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It stores nearly one million seed samples — everything from apples and tomatoes to forage grasses and orchids, essentially a back-up copy of the world’s plants. (Photo: CROP TRUST)
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Norway’s Svalbard Global Seed Vault is built into the mountain. It holds 6,377 species but its capacity is 4.5 million seed varieties. (Photo: CROP TRUST)
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The most successful and widely cultivated cranberries and other crops are the direct result of years of careful breeding. They’re grown primarily in Canada and a few states in the U.S. (Photo: USDA-ARS photo by Keith Weller)
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France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment is studying barley lines at Tessaout Station in Morocco as part of ICARDA’s DIIVA project. (Photo: Michael Major, Crop Trust)
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A farmer in Morocco examines his onions in the field as part of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas’ ongoing work in Morocco. (Photo: Michael Major, Crop trust)
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Just 15 crop plants provide 90 per cent of the world’s food energy intake, with three — rice, maize and wheat — making up two-thirds of this. (Photo: crop trust)
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The Svalbard Vault opened in 2008, though discussions about a storage facility for seed samples from around the world began in the 1980s. (Photo: crop trust)
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The Svalbard Vault was carved out of the solid rock of a permafrost mountain in Norway. (Photo: crop trust)
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The vault is entirely funded by the Norwegian government. The temperature in the vault remains between -3C and -4C. (Photo: crop trust)
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Show here are pigeon peas from the gene bank in India. (Photo: crop trust)
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These seeds belong to AVRDC, the World Vegetable Centre, which is an independent organization headquartered in Shanhua, Taiwan, with sites in Asia, Africa, Uzbekistan, Korea and Cameroon. (Photo: crop trust)
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The architectural features of the Svalbard Seed Vault and the landscape make it a playground for photographers. (Photo: crop trust)
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Workers conduct quality control tests over specially produced rice for archiving and distribution at the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute. (Photo: crop trust)
