Russian troops destroyed the only gene bank of plants in Ukraine which stored more than

18.05.2022, 12:01 en.hromadske.ua

As a result of the bombing of Kharkiv, the Russian troops destroyed the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources of Ukraine, one of the world's largest gene banks of plants, reports Serhiy Avramenko, an employee of the Plant Production Institute named after V. Yuriev. He explained that the seeds are usually stored in special storage facilities, which protect them from various dangers. But every few years, varietal renewal is carried out when the existing seeds are sown to lay new ones for storage. In March 2022, the seeds were prepared for sowing, so they were stored in a building that was bombarded in April. An employee of the Institute noted that the bank stored more than 160,000 seed varieties from around the world. The history of the National Gene Bank of Plants of Ukraine dates back to 1908, when it started operation as Kharkiv Agricultural Experimental Station. It also survived the German occupation.