Harare, (New Ziana) – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has commended Zimbabwe for duplicating and offering over 700 of its indigenous seed samples to the SADC Plant Genetic Resource Centre (SPGRC) for long-term storage.

The SPGRC is a specialised unit of the SADC secretariat responsible for coordinating regional conservation and sustainable utilisation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

“We are excited to report that Zimbabwe has duplicated (and offered) 732 of their indigenous seed samples to the SADC Plant Genetic Resource Centre (SPGRC) for long term storage,” the SADC secretariat said in a statement.

The SPGRC, said the statement, is also home to the regional bloc’s genebank which holds more than 19 500 seed accessions of 145 species of crops forming the core source of food and nutrition for the people of Southern Africa.

The seed duplication strategy was established by SADC member states, and is fundamental to the protection of plant genetic resources from unforeseen risks and safeguarding regional and global food security, enhancing agricultural resilience and ensuring the preservation of biodiversity for future generations.

New Ziana