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(LIP-do) -- Thousands of varieties of wild and cultivated potatoes and camotes (sweet potatoes) the genetic bank of the International Center of the Potato (CIP) holds, will be sent to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV) in Svalbard, Norway. Other important food resources from around the world will be included.

SGSV is an international project to save the agriculture of humanity in case there is a disaster that will risk the food supply of the earth. The vault has been constructed by the Norwegian government as a service to the global community and will begin operating in a few days. The operation will be financed by the Global Funds for the Diversity of Crops, an International ONG like in Rome.

Located in the village of Longyearbyen, a remote island near the Arctic Circle, the project is several feet underground and in the permafrost of the Arctic. The vault will contain duplicated seeds coming from the international centers of the Consulting Group for International Agricultural Investigation (CGIAR), who has headquarters in Benin, Colombia, Ethiopia, Philippines, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru and Syria. They maintain 600 thousand varieties of plants in their genetic banks.

Regarding the potato and the camotes which will be sent, the most representatives of diverse parts of the world, and the ones able to adapt to diverse agricultural conditions, were chosen, informs sources from the CIP in Lima. "The material we are sending will be in botanical seed form, which is the best way to preserve for the longest time," said Charles Crissman, Deputy Director General for Research.

Aside from potatoes and camotes, other crops being held in the vault includes rice, yuca, wheat, corn and beans, it was informed during the press conference held this morning in the city of Mexico.

All the seeds in Svalbard will be available in case a human-inflicted or natural disaster should occur and destroy our agricultural systems.

For more information visit the Norwegian Government's website or the International Center of the Potato's website.

Source: Centro Internacional de la Papa