In this episode of Oh Crop!, host Kat Morgan sits down in Tainan, Taiwan with Dr. Maarten van Zonneveld (Head of Genetic Resource) and Dr. Lucas Pawera (Agronomist/Agroecologist) from the World Vegetable Center to discuss the critical role of gene banks in conserving vegetable biodiversity, the importance of agroecology and soil health, and other challenges and opportunities in food systems. The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg), previously known as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), is an international, nonprofit institute for vegetable research and development. The conversation highlights the intersections of crop diversity, gene banks, and vegetable conservation, emphasizing the need for diverse crops to ensure culturally relevant nutrition security amid global challenges. Global seed and genebanks are designed to safeguard plant genetic diversity—preserving seeds and tissues for long-term food security, climate-resilient crop breeding, and protection against loss from conflict, disease, or extinction. Check out the research below to learn about the interviewee’s research and WorldVeg’s newest initiative, Vegetables4Life.

Resources: 

• https://avrdc.org/healthy-soils-for-healthy-cities/
• https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5810884
• https://avrdc.org/launching-vegetables4life/