Social Sustainability

Seed Diversity

The genetic variety within and among cultivated plant species — the raw material for adapting crops to a changing climate, conserved in fields and gene banks.

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Definition

Seed diversity is the genetic variation of cultivated plants and their wild relatives: thousands of crop landraces, farmer-selected varieties and wild species carrying traits for drought, heat, pest and disease resistance. It is maintained in situ by farmers' seed systems and ex situ in gene banks — including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault — under the framework of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

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