The study of ancient seeds is of great importance. Lessons can be learnt about improving crop production, the use of chemicals, the effect of environmental changes upon agriculture and so on. For this purpose many countries maintain a seed bank.
A seed bank stores seeds to preserve genetic diversity. This enables the genes that plant breeders need to increase yield, disease resistance, drought tolerance, nutritional quality, to be available. The bank also preserves rare plant species. To maintain a seed bank, the collections need to be stored at low temperature and under conditions of moisture to protect against the loss of genetic resources.
The primary seed bank in Syria was stored in war-torn Aleppo. In order to protect the seeds, and to howl them securely for a time when peace is restored to the country, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas have successfully established a sister bank in Terbol, Lebanon. The new depository hosts 30,000 duplicates. In addition, a new seed bank, containing many of the important seeds, has been established in Rabat, Morocco.
In conversation with the science site Nature, Ahmed Amri, head of genetic resources at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, said: “The situation in Syria did not allow us to continue our core activities. I’m happy that we have established ourselves back to normal.”
The Syrian seed bank is regarded as especially valuable. It contains many seeds from the world’s dry regions. This includes the Fertile Crescent, which spans parts of North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus and west Asia. Some researchers regard this region as the birthplace of modern agriculture.
The Syrian collection contains many wild relatives of modern crops. This includes wheat, barley, lentils and grass pea. With this, globally, wheat genetic diversity has been utilized and explored. This means that the seed bank potentially contains strains that might be better adapted to changing climate or with better resistance to the various devastating wheat-rust diseases.
