Transfer of seed banking technology

Staff at the Centre Nationale des Semences Forestières in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, filling an incubator-dryer with seed collections in cloth bags.

The MSBP has developed partnerships with many organisations around the world.  We support these partners in developing their technical infrastructure, thus building their capacity for ex situ seed conservation. The technology involved in seed banking includes:

▪ Drying facilities to reduce moisture content of seeds prior to storage

▪ Aspirators to separate mature seeds from empty seeds and extraneous plant material

▪ X-ray machines to assess the proportion of empty or damaged seeds in a collection

▪ Hygrometers for non-destructive measurement of the water status of seeds

▪ Hermetically sealed containers in which to store the seed

▪ Cold rooms in which to store the collections

▪ Temperature-specific and illuminated incubators for germination testing

National Genebank of Kenya staff show their cold rooms to a visitor from the MSB

Follow the link to processing to see how these seed bank technologies are used in practice at the Millennium Seed Bank. 

These technologies may be adapted to suit partner needs, and not all of the above are essential in setting up a seed bank. Some high-technology seed bank processes, such as aspirating, for example, could be replaced with a traditional technique such as winnowing.  The MSBP also provides partners with advice and information regarding technical equipment and procedures.