In mid-May 2022, the employees of the Yuriev Plant Production Institute were informed that Russian troops had purposefully shot at one of the facilities where the genetic samples of various plants were stored. Spring crops were about to be prepared for sowing. As a result of the shelling, the sample room burned down completely.
Spring crops were about to be prepared for sowing. As a result of the shelling, the sample room burned down completely. However, as it turned out later, the employees managed to make duplicates of these samples. Instead, the winter crops are in danger. Fuel, crop protection, and fertilizers are lacking to process them.
Ukrainian Plant Production Institute after shelling
But the greatest dangers are the mined fields, where those crops are sown. In her article below, Siuzana Grygorenko, Executive Director of the Seed Association of Ukraine, explains the importance of genebanks, the danger of their destruction, and how it impacts global food security in general.
Source: www.agroberichtenbuitenland.nl.