On Thursday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation unveiled new international standards to conserve the world's plant diversity through genebanks. FAO said the new standards, adopted by its Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, are intended to allow more efficient and cost-effective conservation.

Last week, the Rome-based organisation announced that efforts to ensure global food security are entirely dependent upon moves to protect genetic diversity in the world's food and ecosystems. Although such diversity has shrunk under the current agricultural system, FAO said preserving biodiversity is a key means of bolstering resistance to disease and the effects of climate change.  

Brad Fraleigh, Chairing a meeting of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, welcomed the Genebank Standards as "a major accomplishment" for the current and future preservation of plant diversity for food and nutrition security. "These standards will be extremely valuable for opening funding opportunities for genebanks as well as increasing use of these valuable resources," he said.

The Genebank Standards are voluntary, but FAO said they provide "a universal value and utility in guiding genebank management for seeds, for germplasm maintained in field collections, as well as conserved through cryopreservation and in vitro culture."

The standards will be made available in all UN languages. They were developed in response to advances in technology and the increased coverage of plant diversity collections. However, FAO said that a financial boost will be needed to ensure the new standards are applied across the world, including for upgrading professional skills in developing countries.