RDA's seed vault preserves global vegetable genes

AfricaRice delivers rice germplasm packages to Korea's Rural Development Administration (RDA) during the Korea-Africa Summit in Seoul, June 5, 2024. Courtesy of RDA

The Rural Development Administration (RDA) will next month mark the 18th anniversary of its Global Seed Vault's designation as Asia's first official preservation center for vegetable seeds from around the world.

The designation followed a partnership agreement the agency signed with the Germany-based Global Crop Diversity Trust in 2008. The trust was jointly established in 2004 by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research for protection of the seeds.

The RDA said Friday it will expand its services on safety duplication of the genetic sources of agricultural produces from around the world. The agency believes the efforts will contribute to strengthening Korea's agricultural cooperation with the international community.

The Global Seed Vault in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, currently protects 336,872 types of vegetable seed from 12 national agencies in countries around the world, as well as Korean universities, local governments and research institutes. The World Vegetable Center in Taiwan stores more than 52,000 seed accessions in the vault, including adzuki bean and amaranth, while AfricaRice, based in Côte d'Ivoire, stores about 10,000 rice seed accessions.

Officials from the World Vegetable Center and the Rural Development Administration's (RDA) Global Seed Vault pose after the center handed over vegetable seed accessions to the vault in December 2022. Courtesy of the RDA

Ko Jong-chul, the director of RDA’s National Agrobiodiversity Center, said that as safety duplication of plant genetic resources has become increasingly crucial due to the climate change and unstable international relations, he expects more countries to show interests in the RDA vault.

Maarten van Zonneveld, former director of the Genebank at the World Vegetable Center, said the RDA vault is a world-class facility with outstanding safety standards and technical capacity.

"The World Vegetable Center is working toward safety duplication of its collection of approximately 65,000 accessions at the RDA. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the RDA as a trusted global partner in advancing food security and conserving agricultural biodiversity," he said.

Marie-Noelle Ndjiondjop, head of the AfricaRice Genebank and manager of the Monty Jones Rice Biodiversity Center for Africa, said that during the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit, AfricaRice signed an agreement for safety duplication of 20,000 African rice accessions and deposited rice seeds at the RDA vault.

“We expect our continued collaboration to further contribute to food security and agricultural development," she said.

The Rural Development Administration's (RDA) Global Seed Vault is located inside the National Agrobiodiversity Center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. Courtesy of the RDA

Hidelisa De Chavez, a researcher at the Institute of Plant Breeding in the University of the Philippines Los Banos, said the university since 2016 has conserved diverse horticultural genetic resources at the RDA vault.

“Following a renewal of our agreement in 2024, we have deposited additional seed collections. We hope the strong mutual trust between our two organizations and our seed safety duplication initiative will further strengthen collaborative research and promote more active exchanges of researchers and expertise in the years ahead,” she said.

The RDA vault is capable of long-term preservation of 50,000 seeds for over 100 years in an environment below minus 18 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 40 percent or less. It is managed in an unmanned, automated fashion.

When a foreign country requests safety duplication of seeds to the RDA, the seeds are deposited after signing a relevant agreement.

The deposited seeds are preserved in a “black-box” format and not opened or used for any other purposes. The agreement is initially valid for five years and will be automatically extended for additional five-year periods unless a notice of termination is given at least six months before expiration.