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From cutting-edge research to work saving seeds in communities, even our small actions can have a big impact on saving crop diversity and putting it to good use. Read the latest news highlighting these efforts and more.
Latest Article
New Potato Variety Offers a Lifeline to Farmers Battling Blight
Genebanks and global cooperation deliver versatile, climate-resilient solutions for farmers
Lima, Peru (06 November 2025) – The same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine nearly two centuries ago still devastates potato...
6 Nov 2025
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Gardens in the South Pacific Ocean
Sometimes you can find the most telling information in a newspaper not in the articles, but in the ads. A supermarket circular in the South Pacific tells its own story:
Mackerel in oil, $3.
30; 4 pound can of corned beef, $3.75;
...
2 Dec 2014
2 Dec 2014
Bananas, Bruised but Not Beaten
At least 1,000 hectares of banana farms in Southern Mindanao have been destroyed so far by Fusarium, a disease with no known cure that organic farming advocates said was aggravated by the practice of monocropping in the region. ...
2 Dec 2014
2 Dec 2014
Threatened Wild Sunflowers
The line of cars was so thick that Hill County farmer Rodney Schronk couldn’t get into his field of sunflowers. Hordes of rubber-neckers stopped along Interstate 35W near Hillsboro were taking photographs and walking through...
2 Dec 2014
2 Dec 2014
Yam: Feast and Forest
Yet again, citizens of the region of Mahi yesterday celebrated the Feast of Yams. It was held at the Royal Palace of Savalon in the presence of a huge crowd and a group of dignitaries.
On the special day, King Tossoh Gbaguidi...
2 Dec 2014
2 Dec 2014
The African Rice the World Forgot
When a pair of reporters traveled to the Nigerian town of Ofada looking for its famously delicious local rice, they were surprised to find no rice at all.
Onabiyi’s mood took a downward turn when he was asked what had happened to...
2 Dec 2014
2 Dec 2014
How Does a Toxic Grasspea Save Lives?
Dr. Haileyesus Getahun was traveling in the remote north of his native Ethiopia when he encountered a painful sight.
After cruising over a beautiful but arid highlands and valleys for about 6 hours on a mule back, amidst a...
2 Dec 2014
2 Dec 2014
More Than Just Talking Shop: AGM 2014
By LUIGI GUARINO | Director of Science and Programs
All the genebank managers of the CGIAR centres get together every year as part of the CGIAR Research Programme (CRP) on Genebanks. It’s not really a research programme. Suffice...
22 Oct 2014
22 Oct 2014
Chickpea: The Economist and the Falafel
The Big Mac Index determines the purchasing power of different currencies by comparing prices of McDonald’s hamburgers in different countries, but in the Middle East, eating at global food chains is often more expensive than...
9 Oct 2014
9 Oct 2014
A Legend Retires: Jane Toll
On the 23rd of October 1987, a young crop collector named Jane Toll was taking part in a collecting mission in central Chad, helping the staff of the young country’s genebank seek out and conserve indigenous diversity.
“Our focus...
9 Oct 2014
9 Oct 2014
Planet Wheat
Every year farmers grow around $150 billion worth of wheat, providing 23% of the calories we live on. But some years it all goes wrong.
2010 was a bad year for wheat: a heat wave in Russia, cold weather in Canada, drought in China...
1 Jul 2014
1 Jul 2014
India Deposit to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
A box containing 25 accessions of pigeon pea marks first-ever seed deposit from India to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
In April 2014, India made its first seed deposit to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault with one box of 25...
15 May 2014
15 May 2014
The Eggplant CWR Pre-Breeding Project
Valencia, Spain (15-16 May 2014) – Why eggplants? Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important vegetable crop, especially in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. According to FAO statistics, eggplant ranks 6th, after...
5 May 2014
5 May 2014












