Genebanks conserve living samples of the world’s huge diversity of crop varieties and their wild relatives. They ensure that the genetic resources that underpin our food supply are both secure in the long term and available for use by farmers, plant breeders, and researchers.
CIP is the custodian of the world’s largest in vitro genebank, and is the first to obtain International Standards Organization (ISO) accreditation for safe and secure germplasm movement. The genebank maintains clonal and seed collections and houses one of the world’s leading herbarium collections.
Maintained as a global public good under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, CIP’s germplasm is available for free to developing countries. It is used in breeding programs in over 100 countries.
Conservation and Preservation
Conserving the genetic resources of potato and sweetpotato has been a major priority of CIP since its founding in 1971. CIP maintains the largest collections of potato and sweetpotato in the world. The genebank holds over 80% of the world’s native potato and sweetpotato cultivars and over 80% of the known species of wild potato. It also maintains more than 1,500 accessions of native Andean root and tuber crops (ARTCs).
In vitro germplasm is available for distribution. It is used in breeding programs in over 100 countries.
CIP’s in vitro genebank is the first to obtain International Standards Organization (ISO) 17025 accreditation for safe and secure germplasm movement.