The history of one of the world's staples is to be safely stored

October 7, 2024 6:14 AM

The history of one of the world's staples is to be safely stored in this vault. A seed vault has been built in southern New South Wales to protect and store thousands of varieties of rice for up to 100 years.

The George Hulbert Seed Vault in the Department of Primary Industries' warehouses at the Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute is a temperature and humidity-controlled room designed to chill and dry the seeds.
Among the thousands of seeds secured in the George Hulbert Seed Vault are historic sushi rices from Japan, rice from the mountain regions of South Korea, and varieties that are no longer grown in Australia.

posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (5 comments total)

Koshihikari rules! All the rest drools! Where my fellow Koshi-heads at?
posted by snwod at 7:02 AM on October 7 [1 favorite]

It's cool that this is a living repository - people can apply to "withdraw," grow, and replenish the seed stock.
posted by porpoise at 2:30 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]

I was reading about varieties of Indian rice recently. I've seen both green peace and Indian officials use a number of "6000 varieties of rice, down from a former 100,000+ varieties". The conservation too is ongoing. I don't view it solely from a consumptive perspective, but it sure made me wonder what it would be like to try them all.
posted by rubatan at 7:01 PM on October 7 [1 favorite]

but it sure made me wonder what it would be like to try them all.

And all the local variations on methods of preparation!
posted by porpoise at 9:51 PM on October 7

When I first read the title I thought 'But we'll always have paper clips, won't we?'
posted by y2karl at 1:40 PM on October 8