About Israel Gene Bank
The Israel Gene Bank (IGB) at the Agricultural Research Organization serves as a national center for ex-situ conservation of the region's plant genetic resources. It provides a physical infrastructure (seed collection) to support both current and future development and is responsible for the collection and preservation of wild plant species related to cultivated crops (crop wild relatives – CWR) and local landraces. IGB maintains a growing collection of seeds from habitats across the country.
The richness and diversity of Israel's native flora are under threat due to the loss of natural habitats, driven by intensive urbanization, infrastructure development, and a rapid shift to modern agriculture that relies on elite varieties with a very narrow genetic base. Therefore, conservation through the IGB's collections is one of the critical rescue actions needed to preserve Israel's biological and genetic plant diversity.
IGB is a long-term seed preservation infrastructure using freezing technology, located at the Agricultural Research Organization in Rishon LeZion. It is designed to preserve seeds for extended periods, ensuring their availability to breeders and researchers for many years. Seeds are distributed for purposes of research, breeding, and ecological conservation.
The collection is built to represent the maximum genetic diversity of each species. Seeds are collected, processed, and stored under unique conditions that ensure their viability over long periods. This serves as a research infrastructure for all research institutions, as well as the public and private sectors.
IGB for Food Security
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has repeatedly warned in recent years about a looming global food crisis, expected to result in part from extreme climate changes. These changes are likely to affect both the quantity and quality of precipitation available for agricultural crops, as well as lead to rising temperatures. Various forecasts also indicate that climate change will increase the challenges posed by agricultural pests and diseases.
A top priority for today's plant breeders is to develop crop varieties capable of withstanding these changing conditions, to ensure food security.
Breeding new agricultural verities in an era of such extreme climate change is a challenge that requires attention to factors beyond just yield quantity, quality, and performance. Breeders must now focus on crop resilience to extreme temperatures, adaptability to short and intense rainfall patterns and resistance to evolving and intensifying plant diseases in the dynamic climate we are experiencing.