Indian Seed Vault
| Indian Seed Vault | |
|---|---|
Location of Chang La in Ladakh Indian Seed Vault (India) | |
| General information | |
| Type | Seed bank |
| Location | Himalaya |
| Town or city | Chang La, Ladakh |
| Country | India |
| Coordinates | 34°02′49″N 77°55′50″E / 34.04704°N 77.93054°E |
| Elevation | 17,300 feet |
| Opened | 2010 |
| Owner | Indian Government |
The Indian Seed Vault is a secure seed bank located in a high-altitude mountain pass on the Chang La in Ladakh, India. It was built in 2010 jointly by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, and is the second largest seed bank in the world.[1]
History
In the late 1980s, the movement was initiated by the group of activists of Hemwal Valley of Tehri and led by a farmer and social activist Vijay Jardhari. ‘Beej Bachao Andolan’ (Save the Seeds Movement) was started from Jardhargaon of Tehri district, Uttarakhand.[2]
The Indian Seed Vault was established in 2010 through a collaboration between the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and the 'National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) to secure India’s crop diversity in extreme environmental conditions.[3][4] It serves as a backup for more than 5,000 seed accessions.[5]
Seed storage
The Indian Seed Bank was carved into a granite outcrop at Chang La, the vaulted chamber is insulated naturally by subzero temperatures, with steel racks and hermetically sealed cryotanks.[6] The vault stores over 10,000 seeds and 200 plant species.[7] These seeds include apricots, barley, cabbage, carrots, radish, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, and wheat, chosen based on qualities such as yield or resistance to temperature, pests and humidity.[8] A solar‑powered generator and back‑up diesel engine maintain a constant –18 °C internal environment, while all access and monitoring systems including RFID‑tagged seed packets and remote‑sensing alarms are duplicated at the low‑land National Genebank in New Delhi to guard against loss.[9][10]
See also
References
- ^ "Freezing Future: Inside Chang La, India's Doomsday Vault In The Himalayas". The Better India. 1 March 2018.
- ^ Mukhopadhyay, Kasturi; Kumar, Ujjwal (May 2013). "The SAARC Regional Seed Bank" (PDF). Jaipur: Jaipur Printers Private Limited. ISBN 978-81-8257-188-4. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ^ DIHAR. "High‑Altitude Seed Storage at Chang La". DRDO. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ^ Dobson, Jim (1 March 2018). "Freezing Future: Inside Chang La, India's Doomsday Vault in the Himalayas". Mint Lounge. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ^ "Svalbard Global Seed Vault". 27 February 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ^ Thormann, Imke. "Techniques for ex situ plant conservation". academia.edu. doi:10.1300/5546_02.
- ^ Dobson, Jim. "A Doomsday Vault In India Holds Frozen Storage For The Survival Of Future Generations". Forbes.
- ^ "Seed safety vault in Ladakh". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ Aloney, Hitesh. "Seed Banks". upscwithnikhil.com. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
- ^ Cuhls, Kerstin; Voglhuber, Ariane (29 February 2024). "New Topics in Food Systems - Horizon Scanning Long List" (PDF). Foster Food System. Retrieved 5 July 2025.