WorldVeg maintains the world's largest public collection of vegetable
seeds and has been an active participant in the Svalbard Global Seed
Vault since its founding in 2008. According to WorldVeg Genebank Manager
Dr. Maarten van Zonneveld, WorldVeg has 17,736 seed samples already
stored in the vault. This shipment brings the number to 29,507 samples
or 45% of their total collection. WorldVeg aims to have at least 90% of
its active collection in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault by 2025.

The Svalbard Seed Vault follows "black box" agreements with depositors
such as WorldVeg. Only depositors can access and use the seed stored in
their boxes. The seed is not touched without permission from the
depositor and is returned on request should the original collection be
lost or destroyed. "It's up to us to ensure the seed we send to Svalbard
is of high quality," said van Zonneveld. "We monitor seed viability and
regenerate and replace seed as it ages."

Seed from Taiwan and the World Vegetable Center going to the Global Seed
Vault - World Vegetable Center (avrdc.org)
[avrdc.org]