Genebanks and Germplasm Conservation

Dedicated repositories that conserve crop and plant genetic diversity for long-term security rather than for active field research alone, including the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, whose historic seed collection is one of the world's oldest and largest. Belongs here: any institution whose primary function is the long-term ex situ conservation of seeds or germplasm. Does not belong here: a research center that maintains working germplasm collections as part of a wider breeding and research program rather than as its defining mission, grouped under International Agricultural Research Centers or National Agricultural Research Institutes.