Fast tracking climate solutions

Help us preserve the natural capital held in CATIE’s germplasm collections. We can leverage this diversity to develop new varieties of locally adapted, nutrient-dense and climate-resilient crops.

Get in touch to support CATIE’s seed bank

Among the many challenges posed by climate change is the disruption of global agriculture and food systems through extreme weather events such as droughts, heat waves and flooding. These disruptions have far-reaching implications for food security, malnutrition and poverty reduction hitting smallholder farmers and rural communities particularly hard. Climate-resilient crop varieties have been recommended as a way for farmers to cope with or adapt to climate change. Tapping into the genetic diversity contained within traditional seed varieties and their wild relatives can help farmers grow nutrient-dense food that is better suited to local conditions and climate resilient. Underpinning this approach is the importance of crop diversity and breeding. While the importance of germ plasm resources for crop improvement and climate resilience is widely recognized by plant breeders, an over reliance on “safe and familiar” parents of similar genetic backgrounds has led to an unsustainably narrow genetic base in many crop varieties. Around the world today, a small range of modern seeds bred to produce higher yields have taken over agricultural markets. In many places, government subsidies have made these modern seeds cheaper, effectively pushing out a wide variety of traditional and native seeds that local farmers once used. To balance this, there is increasing recognition that previously neglected pools of heritable genetic variations need to be used to produce new and improved crop varieties.

Does agriculture need a lifeline?

Plant health begins with healthy germplasm

CATIE’s seed bank holds a large collection of seeds from 57 counties with 93% of the total coming from Mesoamerica. The bank’s main tasks are conserving, characterizing and distributing the seeds to strengthen the region’s food security. A rich supply of germplasm is key to developing new crop varieties that are nutritionally dense, locally adapted and resilient to the stress of climate change.

7,360 accessions

Cucurbitaceae = 2,783 accessions
Solanaceae = 2,188 accessions
Fabaceae = 1,646 accessions
Poaceae = 429 accessions
Amaranthaceae = 300 accessions
Other families = 14 accessions

Why are seed banks and research important?

climate-resilient crops decrease loss and increase profits for smallholder farmers

a steady and reliable supply of improved crop varieties secures the harvest and reduces food insecurity for both smallholder farmers and consumers
researchers and breeders have access to new tools and knowledge that adapt crops to the needs of both humanity and nature

About CATIE’s seed bank

The vast majority (90%) of the most important crops (ayote, chili and tomato) conserved in CATIE’s seed bank are native materials collected from farms, markets and roadsides over many years thanks to the visionary efforts of early researchers. The collection includes accessions of wild relatives of crops which are an invaluable resource for future genetic improvement. For example, the tomato collection has 18% of Lycopersicum pimpinellifolium - the wild relative of the cultivated tomato species - which offers a wealth of breeding potential for genetic improvement that can provide resistance to new pests and diseases. Two thirds of the conserved materials have been characterized using international descriptors making it possible to know the main morphological traits of each accession. The collections have been used and evaluated over the years in Costa Rica and abroad, both within and outside the country.

The seed collection has 6,201 accessions, representing 14 botanical families, 61 genera and at least 125 species. The most important collections are the Cucurbitaceae (ayote, zuchinni, chiverre, pipián) with 2,332 accessions from 16 countries, chili peppers (Capsicum spp.), with 884 accessions from 31 countries, and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), with 451 accessions from 21 countries. The Cucurbita collection is the second most important worldwide in terms of its overall size and the first in terms of the number of accessions available internationally. Many of the accessions are unique and are not represented in collections elsewhere.
Most seeds in the CATIE collection are available for distribution under the terms of the agreement signed in 2016 with the FAO International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), although due to high maintenance and multiplication costs, seeds available for immediate distribution are limited. Even so, between 2004 and 2014, 1,596 orthodox seed samples were distributed to 25 countries in 4 continents, for an average of 160 samples per year, with Costa Rica being the main recipient accounting for 36% of the total samples distributed.
The CATIE collections have been used and evaluated over the years inside and outside of Costa Rica. The collections are an important resource for both commercial use and genetic improvement of existing materials to obtain improved varieties resistant to pests, diseases and climate stress.
A study of the impact of the germplasm distributed by CATIE during the period 2003-2008 (Girón, 2011) found that users were able to increase crop yields and reduce pest and disease attacks. It also had an impact on the recovery of traditional maize and ayote seeds in indigenous communities in the Talamanca area of Costa Rica.
Recent research conducted in Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala, have shown that tomato, chile and ayote germplasm conserved by CATIE has better organoleptic characteristics and greater resistance to pests and diseases than commercial varieties.
Researchers from INTA in Costa Rica evaluated 50 tomato accessions, finding that some of them are resistant to Pseudomonas and Fusarium viruses, along with resistance to drought.
More recently, CATIE’s tomato germplasm was evaluated and improved by the University of Costa Rica. A variety with tolerance to tomato leaf roll virus (ToALCV), a disease of economic importance, is expected to be released soon,
In the face of imminent climatic changes, collections such as those of CATIE may represent a lifeline for agriculture.
In view of the strategic value of the genetic resources conserved in cold storage, CATIE has financed the management of the germplasm bank for many years. However, it is increasingly difficult for CATIE to maintain the seed bank. The current cost of operating the seed bank is approximately US$ 106,000 per year. CATIE charges beneficiaries US $ 13 per sample distributed, but this only covers a small percentage of the total cost of operating the seed bank.
The Costa Rican Ministry of Agriculture made a donation of $17,000 to support the maintenance of CATIE's seed collections.