Conditions in the genebank

  

Until a consignment of seeds is packed for storage in a genebank’s active and base collections (or Svalbard, or another safety duplicate location), time is of the essence. Delays between the seeds’ arrival at the genebank and their going into storage can make a big difference to longevity and viability. So can differences in humidity and temperature while they wait to be processed.

Although conditions in the field and at harvest are not always under the control of a genebank, there is tantalizing evidence that, by making small changes to the conditions and timescale before they are processed, it may be possible for a genebank to compensate for less-than ideal growing or harvesting conditions. Let’s start with humidity and temperature.