Gates Gives $30-Million to Preserve World’s Crops

To ensure the survival of 21 crops that form the girders for the world’s food supply, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $30-million, and the government of Norway $7.5-million, to collect and preserve vulnerable seeds, reports The New York Times.

The article lists cases where “war, storms, scant money, or bad management” — such as the war in Iraq and typhoons in the Philippines — have wiped out endangered varieties of wheat, yams, and other crops. Collecting and perserving seeds allows scientists to reintroduce crops if natural or man-made disasters threaten the plants.

The United Nations Foundation and the Global Crop Diversity Trust will administer the preservation project, which has set a priority on saving “orphan” crops like coconut and taro that feed huge populations in poor countries but have been ignored by commercial breeders.

Norway will also donate space on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen to stash seeds in bunkers dug from the permafrost, a safety measure in case of a worldwide disaster, like an asteroid strike.

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s coverage of agricultural projects by the Gates foundation.

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