Hainan to build national tropical seed bank

Construction of the National Bank for Tropical Plant Germplasm Resources has been approved in Hainan by the central authorities as part of a national sharing service platform for science and technology resources, according to officials with the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.

Development of the bank will be led by the Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute under the Haikou-based Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, said Chen Yeyuan, director of the institute.

Chen said that in 2003, the institute began to build a bank for China's tropical germ plasm resources - seeds or tissue that can grow into new plants - and now the network boasts 47,000 germ plasm resources, the largest collection in the world. He said the country's research network connects 23 institutes in seven tropical and subtropical provinces and regions: Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.