The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has officially opened the Ukraine Plant Genetic Resources Duplicate Centre, - Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy
12 November 2025, 13:17
Thanks to the support of FAO, the EU and international partners, a centre has been established in Ukraine to ensure the long-term security of Ukraine's plant genetic resources, according to the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Ukraine, with financial support from the European Union (EU) and in partnership with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre (NordGen), has officially opened the Ukraine Duplicate Centre for Plant Genetic Resources and transferred it to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine (NAAS).
It is noted that the opening of the Duplicate Centre was the second stage of a joint EU-FAO project launched in 2022 in response to the destruction of the National Gene Bank in Kharkiv. Following the urgent evacuation of 51,000 long-term storage samples to a temporary storage facility in western Ukraine, the new centre now provides permanent and secure storage for these collections and forms the basis of a modernised national plant genetic resources system. The modular complex includes laboratories, drying, refrigeration and freezer rooms, as well as office space for full-fledged scientific activities, ensuring the long-term and sustainable preservation of Ukraine's unique seed collection.
The implementation of this project also contributed to the adoption of the National Strategy for the Development of the Plant Genetic Resources System of Ukraine for 2024-2028 and the introduction of the international information platform GRIN-Global. This will strengthen data exchange, scientific cooperation and Ukraine's integration into global biodiversity conservation initiatives.
The Duplicate Centre is equipped with modern laboratory equipment and designed with energy efficiency principles in mind. The installation of a 100 kW solar power plant is planned for late 2025 - early 2026. Together with Yuriev V.Y. Institute of Plant Growing and the Ustyma Research Station, the centre forms a single national network for the preservation of over 154,000 samples representing 2,002 plant species.
Many of the collections stored – including wheat, triticale, barley, peas, chickpeas, temperate fodder crops and sunflowers – are of global importance for crop diversity and food security. In line with international practice, Ukraine is also taking steps to duplicate and preserve its plant genetic resources in international repositories such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Although most of the national collection does not yet have backups abroad, the creation of this modern centre provides a solid foundation for long-term preservation and further international cooperation.
The achievement of this project is the process – from the safe transport of the national seed collection to the creation of a sustainable storage system – and demonstrates how international solidarity helps to protect the world's agricultural diversity even in times of war. Each seed stored in the Duplicate Centre is a building block for the future of food production, sustainability and recovery in Ukraine and around the world.