The Indian Seed Vault is a secure

seed bank A seed bank (also seed banks or seeds bank) stores seeds to preserve genetic diversity; hence it is a type of gene bank. There are many reasons to store seeds. One is to preserve the genes that plant breeders need to increase yield, disease res ...

located in a high-altitude mountain pass on the

Chang La Chang La is a high mountain pass in Ladakh at an elevation of in the Ladakh Range between Leh and the Shyok River valley. The Chang La, on Leh to Pangong Lake road, lies on the Leh-Karu, Ladakh, Karu-Sakti, Ladakh, Sakti-Zingral-Chang L ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was built in 2010 jointly by the

Defence Institute of High Altitude Research The Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) is a defence laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) located in Leh city of Ladakh in India. It conducts research on cold arid agro-animal technologies. Hi ...

and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, and is the second largest seed bank in the world.

History

The Beej Bachao Andolan, or "Save the Seeds Movement," began in the late 1980s in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, India, led by Vijay Jardhari. Seed banks were created to store native varieties of seeds.

Seed storage

The vault stores over 10,000 seeds and 200 plant species. These seeds include apricots, barley, cabbage, carrots, radish, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, and wheat, chosen based on qualities such yield or resistance to temperature, pests and humidity.

References

2010 establishments in Jammu and Kashmir 2010 in the environment Agricultural organisations based in India Conservation projects Disaster recovery Emergency management in India Gene banks Indian companies established in 2010 Protected areas of India Science and technology in India Seed associations Tunnels in India {{India-struct-stub

History

Seed storage

See also

References