El País: The secret journey of one of Ukraine’s treasures: Its seed bank
Seeds in refrigerated boxes at the Ukrainian Plant Genetic Resources Duplicate Center. Photo: FAO/Anastasiia Borodaienko
3 December 2025
Scientists and technicians complete the objective of protecting seeds threatened by the war in a cold storage facility at an undisclosed location in the west of the country. The material may one day play a fundamental role in food security.
Name: Triticum aestivum L. (common wheat). Passport: UA0107997. Airtight bag: 17. Box: 341. Location: 38.4 square meter chamber at between -18º and -20º. Several seeds of this cereal and 51,003 other varieties of barley, chickpeas, forage crops and sunflowers are now being safeguarded in the newly inaugurated Duplicate Center for Plant Genetic Resources of Ukraine, in the west of the country. A door about a hand’s width opens into the frigid facility that protects the seeds that may one day play a fundamental role in the event of droughts, pests, floods, or the many other disasters that can ravage the earth and, consequently, the food supply for people and animals.
“Ukraine possesses an immense collection of biodiversity that cannot be found anywhere else. Who knows how useful it may be to us in the future. Its qualities can still be explored; it is like a treasure,” said Luigi Guarino, chief scientist of the Crop Trust, after attending the long-awaited opening of the center this November at a location that cannot be publicly disclosed for security reasons.
Categories: For The Press, For Partners, Food Security