KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s national seed bank, one of the world’s largest, has been successfully moved from the frontline eastern city of Kharkiv to a safer location, Crop Trust, a non profit organisation said on Thursday.
Last spring, a research facility near the seed bank was damaged. That raised concerns about the preservation of the collection, the 10th largest seed collection in the world.
“As part of a year-long effort, the Ukrainian genebank system… has successfully and safely transported over 50,000 seeds from Kharkiv to a more secure location,” Crop Trust, the body set up by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, said in a statement.
It gave no new location of the collection. The genebank includes many endemic seed species, some of which, including wheat and rapeseed, are important for food security.
Kharkiv is located just a few dozen kilometres from the border with Russia and the city is constantly bombarded by Russian missiles and attack drones.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Christina Fincher)
