CGIAR genebank texts

Genebanks.md

@@ -4,14 +4,18 @@
 
 Eleven member institutes of the CGIAR Consortium maintain genebanks. Collectively, these form the largest store of agricultural biodiversity in the world. More than 710,000 accessions range from unimproved wild relatives of crops through to elite breeding lines developed by CGIAR scientists. CGIAR genebanks also maintain tree species and bacteria. Some accessions are kept as seeds, others in field genebanks and yet others in test-tube, or _in-vitro_, collections.
 
-Over the past 10 years, CGIAR genebanks have [distributed more than a million samples](http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/cgiar-consortium-partners-with-global-crop-diversity-trust-to-revitalize-genebanks/) to plant breeders and crop researchers. [^1] You can [use GENESYS to order material](https://www.genesys-pgr.org/content/help/how-to-use-genesys) from CGIAR and other genebanks.
+Over the past 10 years, CGIAR genebanks have [distributed more than a million samples][cgiar] to plant breeders and crop researchers. {==Most recent figure I could find.==} You can [use GENESYS to order material][genesys-pgr] from CGIAR and other genebanks.
 
-The accessions in the CGIAR genebanks are international public goods that the genebanks make available under conditions set out in the [International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture](http://www.planttreaty.org/). In essence, recipients of material agree that they will not further restrict the availability of such material and, if they do restrict access to new varieties derived from genebank material, they will pay a certain percentage into a common fund.
+The accessions in the CGIAR genebanks are international public goods that the genebanks make available under conditions set out in the [International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture][planttreaty]. In essence, recipients of material agree that they will not further restrict the availability of such material and, if they do restrict access to new varieties derived from genebank material, they will pay a certain percentage into a common fund.
 
 CGIAR genebanks are working towards implementing quality monitoring systems that will ensure that their operations meet the highest standards related to seed health, viability and purity and overall operational procedures.
 
-In addition to preserving biodiversity useful to agriculture, genebanks can also contribute directly to improve the livelihoods of farming communities. For example, several genebanks have [restored lost and forgotten landraces and farmer varieties](http://cipotato.org/press_release/return-of-potatoes-from-cip-to-andean-farmers-proves-critical-for-climate-adaptation/) to communities from which they were collected. Many are also working directly with farmers in [participatory breeding and selection activities](https://ccafs.cgiar.org/publications/farmer-participatory-varietal-selection-pvs-and-dissemination-activities-mali-niger) to help them adapt their farming systems to the challenges of climate change.
+In addition to preserving biodiversity useful to agriculture, genebanks can also contribute directly to improve the livelihoods of farming communities. For example, several genebanks have [restored lost and forgotten landraces and farmer varieties][cipotato] to communities from which they were collected. Many are also working directly with farmers in [participatory breeding and selection activities][cgiar 2] to help them adapt their farming systems to the challenges of climate change.
 
 The CGIAR collections will not in and of themselves increase food security or ensure sustainability. They are, however, essential to all such efforts.
 
-[^1]: Most recent figure I could find.
+[cgiar]: http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/cgiar-consortium-partners-with-global-crop-diversity-trust-to-revitalize-genebanks/
+[cgiar 2]: https://ccafs.cgiar.org/publications/farmer-participatory-varietal-selection-pvs-and-dissemination-activities-mali-niger
+[cipotato]: http://cipotato.org/press_release/return-of-potatoes-from-cip-to-andean-farmers-proves-critical-for-climate-adaptation/
+[genesys-pgr]: https://www.genesys-pgr.org/content/help/how-to-use-genesys
+[planttreaty]: http://www.planttreaty.org/

Revamped website.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 The Genesys website is undergoing a facelift and, more importantly, the way it works behind the scenes is being significantly improved.
 
-"Over time, as we have added new features to make Genesys more useful, the site has become a little disorganised," said Matija Obreza, who is leading the revamp. "So we are going back and rethinking how we present the information."
+> "Over time, as we have added new features to make Genesys more useful, the site has become a little disorganised," said Matija Obreza, who is leading the revamp. "So we are going back and rethinking how we present the information."
 
 The goal, Matija says, it to make the experience of looking for, finding and then ordering germplasm of interest as easy and seamless as possible.
 

cgiar/africarice.md

+Title:   africarice 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   26 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# AfricaRice
+## Africa Rice Center
+
+The [genebank of AfricaRice][africarice] is in Cotonou, Benin, where the centre had a temporary headquarters until late {==2015==}{>>Is it moving back to Abidjan?JC<<}. The collection contains close to 20,000 accessions, the vast majority of them (78%) _Oryza sativa_, Asian rice. Accessions of the African species _O. glaberrima_, however, which form 17% of the collections, are crucial to the breeding of varieties able to perform well under the conditions of sub-Saharan Africa.
+
+About 60% of the accessions are traditional cultivars or landraces, and just under 40% are breeding and research lines. The remainder are mostly wild species.
+
+The base collection at Cotonou, is in medium-term storage at 5-10°C. In addition, AfricaRice has three {==complete==}{>>From AfricaRice website; conflict with info in genesys. JC<<} duplicates in long term storage at around -20°C, in Ibadan, Nigeria, at Fort Collins, USA, and in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.
+
+The genebank, with its wide range of rice diversity, was a crucial element in the development of very succesful Nerica varieties. Much of the research at AfricaRice is focused on screening accessions for their ability to tolerate stresses such as heat and drought and pests and diseases, all of which are expected to increase under climate change.
+
+AfricaRice is spearheading regional characterisation and evaluation efforts throughout sub-Saharan Africa, working with the [INGER-Africa][africarice 2] network and national programmes throughout Africa. Other work includes the restoration of lost germplasm after civil strife, provision of conservation services to NARS, and training and capacity building.
+
+The AfricaRice Genebank Information System ([ARGIS][africarice 3]) holds information on more than 19,000 accessions and is publicly available.
+
+[africarice]: http://www.africarice.org/warda/genebank.asp
+[africarice 2]: http://www.africarice.org/warda/inger.asp
+[africarice 3]: http://eservices.africarice.org/argis/index.php

cgiar/bioversity.md

+Title:   bioversity 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   26 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# Bioversity International
+
+Bioversity's collection of bananas and plantains and their wild relatives (_Musa_ species) is kept at the International Transit Centre (ITC) at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. The collection -- with more than 1500 accessions -- is the largest in the world. About 75% are traditional varieties or landraces and 15% are wild relatives. The remaining 10% is largely breeding and research material.
+
+Accessions are kept *in-vitro*, as 20 shoot cultures in continuous light at 16°C. Fresh cultures are taken each year, and after a few years the tissue culture is replaced with new material grown in the field and checked for genetic integrity. This prevents the accumulation of changes that can occur in plants kept in tissue culture for long periods of time.
+
+Accessions are also cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen  at -196°C. This stops both the growth of plant cells and all biological deterioration, so accessions can be preserved indefinitely and resuscitated into fully viable banana plants. As further insurance, a safety duplicate set is being deposited for safe-keeping at the French research institute for development (IRD) in Montpellier, France.
+
+The ITC is also a global hub for the safe movement of _Musa_ germplasm around the world. It has a system for indexing accessions for the presence of viruses and has researched protocols for cleaning up infected accessions. Only accessions that are virus free -- currently 55% of the collection -- are distributed, and work continues to ensure the entire collection is virus free.
+
+Bioversity maintains the Musa Germplasm Information System ([MGIS][crop-diversity]) with access to information from 12 collections of banana.
+
+[crop-diversity]: http://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/

cgiar/ciat.md

+Title:   ciat 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   29 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# CIAT
+## International Center for Tropical Agriculture
+## Centro Internacional de Agricoltura Tropical
+
+[CIAT's genebank][ciat] in Cali, Colombia, lists almost 65,000 accessions in Genesys. The vast majority are seed crops, mainly beans, but CIAT also has a mandate to conserve cassava and tropical forages, and those too are held in the genebank. Almost 2000 of the accessions are wild relatives. Since 1980 CIAT has distributed more than 90,000 samples of 13,363 accessions to 110 countries.
+
+The CIAT bean collection is the world's largest and most diverse, with more than 44,000 accessions. Since it started, the collection has sent more than 437,000 samples of 37,368 accession to recipients in 105 countries. Accessions are contributing to the breeding of more nutritious and more resilient varieties.
+
+Cassava is represented by 6592 accessions (883 of which are provided by 33 of the 98 wild relative species of *Manihot*) stored as microplants in tissue culture. This collection too is considered a global leader because of the number of accessions, their diversity and the geographic range they represent. More than 40,000 samples have been distributed, guaranteed free of the three major viruses thanks to the work of the germplasm health laboratory at CIAT. The laboratory also ensures that seeds of beans and tropical forages are free of pests and diseases.
+
+The tropical forage collection is also a world leader, with more than 23,000 accessions of 700 species. CIAT and ILRI created the [Tropical Forages Database](http://www.tropicalforages.info), an online version of an interactive selection tool that helps researchers, farmers and their advisers to find the most appropriate forages.
+
+Two-thirds of the CIAT seed collection is safety duplicated at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
+
+[ciat]: http://isa.ciat.cgiar.org/urg/main.do?language=en

cgiar/cimmyt.md

+Title:   cimmyt 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   31 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# CIMMYT
+## International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
+## Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo
+
+[CIMMYT's genebank][cimmyt] in Texcoco, Mexico, primarily houses collections of maize and wheat. The [wheat collection][adobe], with about 140,000 accessions from 140 countries, is the largest in the world. The [maize collection][adobe 2] of 28,000 accessions includes the world's largest collection of maize landraces.
+
+Total holdings in Genesys number more than 164,000. Of these, 47% are advanced cultivars and breeders' lines, 34% are traditional cultivars or landraces, and almost 5% are wild relatives. About 120,000 samples have been distributed to 64 countries.
+
+A key role for the genebank, at CIMMYT as elsewhere, is to identify potentially valuable accessions to use in specific breeding programmes. Most recently, for example, breeders planted 918 landrace accessions to look for [resistance to a disease called tar spot complex][cimmyt 2], which is spreading through Mexico and the USA. Two varieties showed resistance. CIMMYT is now using those varieties to create stocks that breeders can use to produce high-performing resistant varieties.
+
+CIMMYT's accessions have helped to populate two important databases that tabulate molecular characterisation data for wheat and for maize.
+
+About {==37% of the CIMMYT collection==}{>>There is a large discrepancy between this figure, from Genesys, and the Crop Trust figure of 73%. I expect one of you has the numbers backwards. JC<<} is safety duplicated in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and there are additional safety duplicates in the United States. In addition, CIMMYT holds safety duplicates of material in the ICARDA genebank.
+
+The Genetic Resources Program, of which the genebank is a part, includes a Seed Health Unit to ensure that all seed meets international phytosanitary standards. A Data Management Unit ensures that data are open access and meet standards of best practice.
+
+[adobe]: https://spark.adobe.com/page/QXtG2/
+[adobe 2]: https://spark.adobe.com/page/bKgfw/
+[cimmyt]: http://www.cimmyt.org/germplasm-bank/
+[cimmyt 2]: http://www.cimmyt.org/ancient-maize-varieties-provide-modern-solution-to-tar-spot-complex/

cgiar/cip.md

+Title:   cip 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   31 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# CIP
+## International Potato Center
+## Centro Internacional de la Papa
+
+The [CIP genebank][cipotato] in Lima, Peru, is responsible for potatoes and sweetpotatoes and other Andean roots and tubers. The entire collection at CIP is about 16,000 accessions. Genesys lists the 3000 accessions maintained *in vitro*, 2000 of potato and 1000 of sweet potato. About 63% of these are breeding material or advanced cultivars, while 37% are traditional cultivars or landraces.
+
+The CIP collection is the world's largest *in vitro* genebank. It includes more than 80% of the world’s potato and sweetpotato landraces and more than 80% of the known species of wild potato. The CIP genebank also maintains more than 1500 accessions of Andean root and tuber crops. About 15,000 samples have been distributed to 94 countries.
+
+Accessions are kept as clonal collections in field and *in vitro* (many cryopreserved) and as seeds. CIP is also working with farmers and local organizations in the Andes to conserve crops in farmers' fields. Part of that effort has involved giving varieties back to communities that had lost them. As researchers monitor the changes that take place as farmers grow and adapt these varieties, they also get the opportunity to discover and incorporate new varieties in the collection.
+
+Material from the CIP genebank was instrumental in breeding the [orange-fleshed sweet potatoes][cipotato 2] that are currently improving nutrition in much of sub-Saharan Africa. These varieties are naturally rich in pre-cursors to vitamin A, and as part of the daily diet can prevent vitamin A deficiency.
+
+A unit for the detection and elimination of pathogens enables the CIP genebank to distribute healthy material. CIP was the first genebank to be accredited by the International Standards Organization (ISO 17025) for safe and secure germplasm movement.
+
+About {==82% of CIP's accessions==}{>>Again, huge discrepancy with 45% figure on Crop Trust website. JC<<} are safety duplicated in the form of true seed in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Additional safety duplicates are in Brazil and Peru and at CIAT in Colombia.
+
+[cipotato]: http://cipotato.org/genebank
+[cipotato 2]: http://cipotato.org/sweetpotato/nutrition-2/

ICARDA.md → cgiar/icarda.md

+Title:   icarda 03
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   29 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
 # ICARDA
 ## International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas
 
-ICARDA holds almost 150,000 accessions, largely of its mandate crops -- barley, wheat, food legumes and forage legumes -- and the _Rhizobium_ bacteria that enable legumes to fix nitrogen. About 21% of accessions are wild relatives, which are likely to [become increasingly important as sources of the genetic diversity][cwr] needed to cope with challenges such as climate change, and 4.4% are traditional varieties or landraces.
+[ICARDA][icarda2] holds almost 150,000 accessions, largely of its mandate crops -- barley, wheat, food legumes and forage legumes -- and the _Rhizobium_ bacteria that enable legumes to fix nitrogen. About 21% of accessions are wild relatives, which are likely to [become increasingly important as sources of the genetic diversity][link to CWR project] needed to cope with challenges such as climate change. Just under 5% are traditional varieties or landraces.
 
-Researchers at ICARDA and in the global community use the genebank accessions in research and to develop new, [improved varieties](http://www.icarda.org/update/two-new-malt-barley-varieties-released-game-changing-development-ethiopia). Over the past decade, the genebank distributed more than 200,000 samples to 63 countries.
+Researchers at ICARDA and in the global community use the genebank accessions in research and to develop new, [improved varieties][icarda]. Over the past decade, the genebank distributed more than 200,000 samples to 63 countries.
 
-Scientists at ICARDA have pioneered a new approach to the discovery of valuable genetic traits, known as Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy. [FIGS](http://figs.ICARDA.org/figs-use) improves the use of genetic resources by pre-selecting those accessions that are most likely to contain the traits of interest to solve a particular breeding challenge, such as tolerance to heat or resistance to a specific disease.
+Scientists at ICARDA have pioneered a new approach to the discovery of valuable genetic traits, known as Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy. [FIGS][ICARDA] improves the use of genetic resources by pre-selecting those accessions that are most likely to contain the traits of interest to solve a particular breeding challenge, such as tolerance to heat or resistance to a specific disease.
 
 The genebank was established in 1983, at ICARDA's headquarters in Aleppo, Syria. Even before the unrest in Syria, the genebank had begun to store safety duplicates of its collections not only at the Svalbard Seed Vault but also at collaborating genebanks around the world. The value of these duplicate collections became obvious when the Syrian uprising threatened the very existence of the genebank.
 
-In late 2015 ICARDA was able to retrieve many of its accessions from Svalbard to establish new facilities in Lebanon and Morocco. For ICARDA's efforts in protecting the genebank and its accessions, the Gregor Mendel Foundation awarded the genebank its [Gregor Mendel Innovation Prize](http://www.gregor-mendel-stiftung.de/veranstaltungen/innovationspreis/preistraeger-2015/) in March 2015.
+In late 2015 ICARDA was able to retrieve many of its accessions from Svalbard to establish new facilities in Lebanon and Morocco. For ICARDA's efforts in protecting the genebank and its accessions, the Gregor Mendel Foundation awarded the genebank its [Gregor Mendel Innovation Prize][gregor-mendel-stiftung] in March 2015.
 
-[cwr]: https://www.cwrdiversity.org
+[icarda2]: http://www.icarda.org/research-sub/biodiversity-and-its-utilization
+[ICARDA]: http://figs.ICARDA.org/figs-use
+[gregor-mendel-stiftung]: http://www.gregor-mendel-stiftung.de/veranstaltungen/innovationspreis/preistraeger-2015/
+[icarda]: http://www.icarda.org/update/two-new-malt-barley-varieties-released-game-changing-development-ethiopia

cgiar/icraf.md

+Title:   icraf 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   31 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# ICRAF
+## World Agroforestry Center
+
+The [ICRAF genebank][worldagroforestry] in Nairobi, Kenya, conserves the diversity of a wide range of agroforestry tree species, most of which are a source of food or forage. Accessions are stored as seed and in field genebanks in the regions where ICRAF works.
+
+The seed genebank currently holds almost 5400 accessions of about 150 species. Of these, information on 4300 is available through Genesys. Seed is maintained in an active collection at 4°C, and for long-term conservation ICRAF works with the Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom and the Kunming Institute of Botany in China.
+
+Conservation of tree species poses special difficulties, including the large number of genera -- each with specific requirements -- long generation times and seeds that often cannot be dried for conventional storage. As a result, ICRAF has to maintain decentralised field genebanks. These field genebanks both conserve diversity and offer a source of sexual and clonal reproductive material. The field genebanks are also research sites for evaluation and characterisation. Overall, 60 diverse tree and shrub species are maintained in field genebanks spread across 16 countries.
+
+The seed and field genebank supply germplasm for ICRAF's research to domesticate some species, and to others wanting access to agroforestry plant genetic resources.
+
+Just over {==3% of the seed accessions==}{>>Discrepancy with Crop Trust figure of 10% JC<<} are safety duplicated at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. About 8% of the accessions are also safety duplicated in China.
+
+A database -- the [Agroforestry Species Switchboard][worldagroforestry 2] -- gives access to "information sources to support tree research and development activities"
+
+[worldagroforestry]: http://www.worldagroforestry.org/products/grunew/
+[worldagroforestry 2]: http://www.worldagroforestry.org/products/switchboard/index.php/name_like/Acacia/

cgiar/icrisat.md

+Title:   icrisat 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas  
+Date:   29 August 2016 
+Format: snippet   
+
+#ICRISAT
+##International Centre for Research on Agriculture in the Semi-Arid Tropics
+
+ICRISAT focuses on pulses and cereals, including millets, that are important for food security in the semi-arid areas of the world. The [main genebank collection][icrisat] is at the centre's headquarters in Hyderabad, India, and there are additional facilities in Niger, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
+
+More than 123,000 accessions are listed in Genesys. Almost 50,000 of these are pulses of various kinds, mostly chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut, and their wild relatives. Sorghum is the most common single species, with 39,000 accessions. There are about 33,000 accessions of various millets, including almost 23,000 of pearl millet.
+
+Traditional cultivars and landraces make up the bulk of the holdings (80%) and about 14% are breeding and research lines. About 2% are wild relatives.  
+
+ICRISAT helped to develop the idea of mini-core collections, a representative sample of about 1% of the accessions of a species, selected to help breeders find the traits they are interested in.
+
+The ICRISAT genebank has distributed more than 1.4 million samples of 106,000 accessions to 145 countries. ICRISAT accessions are part of the pedigree of more than 800 improved varieties released by national partners. ICRISAT has itself released several improved varieties that make use of genebank accessions, including pearl millets rich in micronutrients.
+
+About 83% of the collection is safety duplicated at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, with additional smaller safety duplicates in Niger and at ICARDA.
+
+[icrisat]: http://www.icrisat.org/gene-bank/

cgiar/iita.md

+Title:   iita 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   30 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# IITA
+## International Institute for Tropical Agriculture
+
+The [Genetic Resources Centre][iita] of IITA in Ibadan, Nigeria, maintains crops important for sub-Saharan Africa: banana, cassava and yam as tissue culture and field plants and bambara groundnut, cowpea, maize and sorghum, and a few miscellaneous legumes, as seed. Details of about 31,000 accessions are available through Genesys.
+
+Cowpea accounts for 16,000 accessions, with about 2000 each of bambara groundnut and soybean and 1500 of maize. The collection of clonal crops includes almost 4000 accessions of cassava, just over 2000 of yam and 283 of banana. More than half of all the accessions are traditional cultivars or landraces and 1.5% are known to be wild relatives.
+
+Seed crops are kept in conventional genebank storage with medium-term and long-term facilities. Clonal crops are kept in field genebanks and *in vitro* tissue cultures for short and medium term storage, with an increasing number being brought into cryopreservation for long-term storage.
+
+About 60% of the accessions are safety duplicated at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Smaller safety duplicates are held at the Saskatoon Research Centre in Canada and at CIMMYT in Mexico.
+
+[iita]: http://www.iita.org/genetic-resources

cgiar/ilri.md

+Title:   ilri 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   30 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# ILRI
+## International Livestock Research Institute
+
+[ILRI's genebank][ilri], which is responsible for forages and some dual-purpose crops, is housed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The collection is perhaps the most diverse in Genesys. The collection holds more than 1000 species and the 20 most numerous species account for well under a third (29%) of more than 20,000 accessions. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of the accessions (97%) are wild species rather than cultivars or landraces.
+
+The genebank has distributed more than 10,000 samples to 40 countries. About 900 accessions are regenerated and multiplied each year.
+
+Characterization of forages at ILRI looks in detail at phenotypical variation, particularly in nutritional traits, and resistance to pests and diseases. The goal is to identify accessions that offer better performance for use as part of sustainable farming systems and as best bets for further evaluation and possible improvement.
+
+To promote the use of forages throughout sub-Saharan Africa, ILRI's genebank operates a [Herbage Seed Unit][ilri 2] that offers training to national scientists and technicians and provides starter quantities of selected seed for multiplication and distribution.
+
+ILRI and CIAT created the [Tropical Forages Database][tropicalforages], an online version of an interactive selection tool that helps researchers, farmers and their advisers to find the most appropriate forages. ILRI also maintains [a searchable local database of forage diversity][156].
+
+A few (6.6%) of the accessions are safety duplicated at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, with other safety duplicates held in Australia, the United Kingdom and at CIAT in Colombia.
+
+[156]: http://192.156.137.110/forage/frgdsearch.asp
+[ilri]: http://www.ilri.org/node/1750
+[ilri 2]: http://www.ilri.org/node/1753
+[tropicalforages]: http://www.tropicalforages.info

cgiar/irri.md

+Title:   irri 01
+Author: Jeremy Cherfas
+Date:   31 August 2016
+Format: snippet
+
+# IRRI
+## International Rice Research Institute
+
+The [IRRI genebank][irri] in Los Baños, Philippines, holds the world's largest collection of rice diversity, with more than 127,000 accessions of cultivated rice and wild relatives. About 38% of the accessions are traditional cultivars or landraces, 11% are breeding materials or advanced cultivars and 3% are wild relatives. (Most of the rest are "not classified".) IRRI has distributed about 130,000 samples to 75 countries.
+
+Genebank accessions have been instrumental in creating all of the high-yielding rice varieties released by IRRI over the years. They have also been invaluable to rice breeders in national programmes. A [recent study][cgiar] found that 90% of the varieties released by national programmes included at least one IRRI accession in their pedigree.
+
+All accessions are maintained in an active collection at 2-4°C and at -20°C for long-term storage. Seed is tested regularly for viability and regenerated if the germination rate falls below 8%. IRRI is also researching ways to extend the longevity of seeds in storage and to predict viability more accurately.
+
+Evaluation of the accessions for phenotypical and molecular characteristics is an important genebank activity. Data are shared through Genesys and through the International Rice Genebank Collection Information System ([IRGCIS][irgcis]). IRRI accessions and scientists also played a large part in the effort to [sequence 3000 rice genomes][irri 2], and IRRI now leads the [International Rice Informatics Consortium][irri 3], which aims to sequence and make data available on as much rice diversity as possible.
+
+More than 91% of the accessions at IRRI are safety duplicated in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and in the USA and elsewhere.
+
+[cgiar]: http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/genebanks-investing-in-biodiversity-for-future-generations/
+[irgcis]: http://www.irgcis.irri.org:81/grc/irgcishome.html
+[irri]: http://irri.org/our-work/research/genetic-diversity/international-rice-genebank
+[irri 2]: http://iric.irri.org/resources/3000-genomes-project
+[irri 3]: http://iric.irri.org/home