Episode 13: Crop Trust Sarada Krishnan PhD - How Does The Crop Trust Conserve Global Crop Diversity?

Sarada Krishnan, PhD is the Director of Programs at the Crop Trust. Sarada has an undergraduate degree in Horticulture, master's degree in Horticulture, and PhD in Conservation Biology. Before joining the Crop Trust, she served as the Director of Horticulture and Center for Global Initiatives at Denver Botanic Gardens for 16 years. Sarada is responsible for providing oversight on the implementation of strategic projects and programs designed to support the Crop Trust mandate of securing the world's crop diversity. The Crop Trust is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conserving and making crop diversity available for use globally, forever and for the benefit of everyone. Conserving and making this diversity available in genebanks worldwide ensures a food supply at more stable prices and provides the raw material breeders and farmers will need to grow a more nutritious, affordable and varied food supply. The Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust) was established in October 2004 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Bioversity International on behalf of CGIAR for the purpose of sustainably supporting a global system for the conservation and use of crop diversity through its Crop Diversity Endowment Fund.   TOPICS EXPLORED 0:00 – 1:16 – Introduction 1:16 – 2:05 – What is the Crop Trust and what type of work does it do? 2:05 – 4:16 – How did you become interested in this type of work? 4:16 – 5:07 – What led you to work for the Crop Trust? 5:07 – 7:27 – What types of projects and initiatives do you work on at the Crop Trust? 7:27 – 9:29 – How was the idea of the Crop Trust developed and the organization created? 9:29 – 12:10 – What are some important aspects of the Crop Trust's history? 12:10 – 13:00 – How is the Crop Trust funded? 13:00 – 19:18 – What is the Food Forever Strategic Plan for 2030 and what are some of its aims? 19:18 – 20:54 – What types of foods are part of the Annex 1 list and how are they selected? 20:54 – 24:41 – What is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and what happens there? 24:41 – 27:16 – How does the Crop Trust source the seeds for the Seed Vault? 27:16 – 29:33 – Where do some of the genebanks exist? 29:33 – 35:35 – What are other projects and types of research is the Crop Trust working on? 35:35 – 37:20 – What are some things everyday people can do to preserve seed and crop diversity? 37:20 – 38:48 – Things to share and wrap up   CROP TRUST INFORMATION Crop Trust: https://www.croptrust.org/ Svalbard Global Seed Vault: https://www.croptrust.org/work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/   RESOURCES BOLD Project: https://bold.croptrust.org/ Crop Trust Genebank Resources Hub: https://www.croptrust.org/pgrfa-hub/   FOOD FOR YOU AND THE PLANET PODCAST INFORMATION Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/food-for-you-and-the-planet/id1739416396 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pkAIuXxl9dzD48b7qMOL1 RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/506343/rss Podcast Instagram: @foodforyouandtheplanet   TAGS Food Environment Health Podcast Sustainability Crop Trust Native Plants Seed Saving Food Security Conservation Biodiversity