Farmers in Peru are sending 1.500 varieties of potatoes to a “doomsday vault” on the Arctic island of Svalbard in order to safeguard the tubers (rodknoldenes) future, BBC online reports Thursday.
Potatoes are regarded as the world’s most important non-cereal crop (ikke-korn afgrøde), and have been eaten for about 8000 years. But native species from the highlands of South America appear to be at risk.
The samples being sent to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault are being provided by the Cusco Potato Park, which covers more than 10.000 hectares and was set up by six indigenous communities (indianske lokalsamfund) in order to protect biodiversity and protect food security in the region.
The Andes are homes to more than 4.000 varieties of native potato, and the park’s collection has attracted plant breeders from all over the world, searching for traits (egenskaber) such as disease resistance, flavour (smag) or nutritional attributes (ernæringsmæssige fortrin).
However, the park faces an uncertain future because changes to the area’s climate could undermine the farmers’ weather-dependent agricultural systems.
Permafrost and thick rock surrounding the vault, built 130 metres inside a mountain on the Norwegian island, ensure that the samples will remain frozen even in the case of power failure.
