News

Over the last half-century, genebanks have played an essential role in safeguarding global food security for the future through the conservation of plant genetic resources.

Now, based on a review of historical data from seven...

“You need to see it to believe it,” says Viviana Barahona, agronomist and extensionist at the Chilean Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) in Cauquenes, Chile.

“Picture this: you are standing in a yellow field, a...

Stefan Schmitz | Executive Director

As I write this, fires rage in Greece and Turkey, provoked by drought and searing heat waves. During the last couple of months, parts of Canada and the United States have also been hit by deadly...

From July 26 to 28, a wide range of stakeholders from the international community gathered at the United Nations Food Systems Pre-Summit to discuss pathways towards more sustainable food systems.

More than 20,000 participants...

We hear a lot about coffee being in trouble. Pests, diseases, climate change, you name it, they’re all coming for your brew. It is quite scary—for caffeine addicts like us, for the farmers who grow coffee, and for the companies...

As one of the world’s most widely produced and consumed fruits and staple foods, bananas (including plantain) are of vital importance.

But pests and diseases, such as the Tropical Race 4 fungal infection, and climate change, have...

Scientists from across the CGIAR, and its partner and donor organizations met in July 2021 to identify opportunities for enhancing use of crop germplasm collections.

Hosted by the CGIAR Genebank Platform, the workshop addressed...

The state of the global coffee industry was thrown into the public eye this summer as two of the world’s largest coffee exporters faced dire situations: drought and frost threatened crops in Brazil and surging COVID-19 cases in...

Harnessing useful traits found in the weedy distant cousins (“wild relatives”) of domesticated crops to develop more climate-resilient varieties is a lengthy and complex process.

Wild relatives of the arid-zone grain sorghum have...

The Crop Trust has signed an agreement with Zambia’s national genebank under the Seeds for Resilience Project to help safeguard the country’s crop diversity and make it more accessible to farmers, breeders and researchers.

The...

Since 2021, the CGIAR Genebank Platform Policy Module has developed and promoted an online course for CGIAR researchers and other CGIAR staff to dive deeply into the evolving international laws and policies that govern the sharing...

The Crop Trust and International Plant Treaty

Cryopreservation is the key to conserving many crops we rely on for our food and agriculture.

While most of the world’s food plants, such as rice, maize and wheat, can be conserved...