Potato seed has been deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Bank - not the immature tubers planted by vegetable gardeners, but true seed produced by potato flowers.

When The Svalbard Global Seed Bank was opened at the end of February, Jim Godfrey, Chair of the International Potato Centre, was present.

Click on the image to enlarge the photo, which shows Jim carrying true seed potatoes into the vault, from the International Potato Centre in Lima.

The picture was taken inside the tunnel leading to the vault and shows the ice walls! The temperature was -3 in the passage to the vault!

Jim said ‘At CIP we have 4,200 varieties of native potatoes in our genebank, making it the largest collection of potatoes in the world. Under an agreement with the United Nations we hold these potatoes in trust for humanity.’

Some of these varieties are now deposited in the Global Seed Bank at Svalbard as true seed potatoes, & will be safe for hundreds of years.