The First Rice Bank In The World Has Been Established

Nearly half of the world’s population – around 3,5 billion people eat rice every day. In the future, humans will no longer worry about the lack of this stape. Thanks to researchers, the human will be able to deal with climate change impacts, like drought and severe flooding as well as keep pace with the growing population.

Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) use the seeds to develop rice varieties at the high-tech facility in Los Banos, Philippines. On World Food Day, October 16^th, the agreement between IRRI and the Crop Trust will be signed to guarantee funding worth $1.4 million each year.

The aim of the IRRI gene bank is to ensure the long-term conservation of rice biodiversity- a part of the global strategy for the preservation of rice genetic resources and human food supply isn’t being lost. The international rice gene bank holds more than 135,000 rice samples for research.

$1.4 million every year will be provided from Crop Trust – an organization that was found in 2004 to provide long-term financial support to the global important stape and agriculture gene bank. After 2023, the agreement will be renewed to continue with a second five-year stage for any review in the gene bank’s operational costs as well as business plan. The Crop Trust still seems dedicated to supporting finance for the gene bank for scientists to keep rolling in this dietary stape for the foreseeable future.

Marie Haga, Executive Director of the Crop Trust said that the agreement is a landmark moment for IRRI and Crop Trust. According to her claim, providing perpetual funding to the global crop collections is the core mission of Crop Trust.