b'UKRAINE UPDATEA THREAT TO HUMANITYTHE DESTRUCTION OF THE GENETIC POTENTIAL OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR.BY: SIUZANA GRYGORENKOWHAT ARE GENEBANKS? COLLECTING THE SAMPLESWHY IT MATTERS Genebanks operate in a number of coun- The employees asked foreign breed-In mid-May 2022, the employees oftries and within scientific institutions.ing companies, companies present in the Yuriev Plant Production InstituteThey are created in order to have anUkraine, Ukrainian breeders and other were informed that Russian troops hadopportunity to breed new sustainablecountries to provide them with samples purposefully shot at one of the facilitiesplant varieties from these samples in theof varieties and hybrids bred in them. In where the genetic samples of variousfuture. And without primary (so-calledthis way, the so-called selection fund was plants were stored. Spring crops wereoriginal) seeds it would be rather difficultformed and as mentioned above, it num-about to be prepared for sowing. As ato do that. bered about 160,000 samples.result of the shelling, the sample roomNowadays, there are about 1,500 burned down completely. However,genebanks in the world. One of them isIMPORTANCE OF GENEBANKSas it turned out later, the employeeslocated in Kharkiv at the Yuriev PlantFirst, breeding is an extremely long managed to make duplicates of theseProduction Institute. The genebankand time-consuming process. It takes samples. Instead, the winter crops arehouses over 160,000 plant varieties5-7 years to develop a new variety and in danger. Fuel, crop protection andand hybrids, collected from all over theto test it under different environmental fertilizers are lacking to process them.world. With several breeding stations,conditions. And then another 2-3 years to But the greatest danger are the minedthe Institute employees not only collectcommercialize the variety. But conduct-fields, where those crops are sown. Inand preserve, but also work on develop- ing scientific investigations with cross-her article below, Siuzana Grygorenko,ing various varieties and hybrids ofbreeding and various combinations and Executive Director of Seed Associationsunflower, cereals, and othertheir conservation is a whole new level.of Ukraine, explains the importancecrops. Second, the employees expertise of genebanks, the danger of theirmust also be taken into account. The destruction and how it impacts thenumber of workers engaged in this activ-global food security in general. ity is actually limited. Meaning that the work is sophisticated, demanding field knowledge and great experienceThird, the selection and collection of various Photo credit: Rubryka.com6IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'