A total of 161 seed samples from Croatia have been deposited, including 153 from a group of cereals and maize and eight from a group of vegetables, the Ministry said, adding that this fulfilled one of the goals of the National Program for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources by 2027, the statement said.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is regarded as the most important "bank" in the world and is dubbed the doomsday vault, given that it stores seeds from plant genebanks from across the world. It serves as an "insurance policy" for global food supply in the event of a worldwide disaster.
The Seed Vault has a storage capacity of 4.5 million crop varieties and 2.5 billion seeds, giving future generations a chance to overcome the challenges of climate change and population growth, the statement said.
The Ministry of Agriculture noted that the selected Croatian seeds are traditional varieties that have adapted to climate conditions.
The National Plant Genebank stores 106 seeds of industrial crops, 207 seeds of fodder plants, 2,666 seeds of medicinal and aromatic herbs, 332 seeds of vegetables, 471 seeds of fruit, 147 seeds of vine and 610 seeds of cereals, the statement said.