14-07-2025
EU-Funded Gene Bank Launched in Kurdistan
By John Lee.
In a landmark move to protect Iraq's agricultural legacy and strengthen its food security, the foundation stone has been laid for the country's first-ever Gene/Seed Bank, located in Hawari Shar Park, Sulaymaniyah.
The facility is being funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with Iraq's Federal and Regional Governments, under the " Restoration and Strengthening the Resilience of Agri-Food Systems in Iraq " project.
The inauguration was held under the auspices of H.E. Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and attended by Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Begard Talabani, Governor of Sulaymaniyah Dr. Haval Abubakir, Mayor of Sulaymaniyah Ms. Leyla Omar Ali, FAO Representative Salah El Hajj Hassan, and other senior officials from academia and agriculture.
Mr. Qubad Talabani described the gene bank as " an investment for the future; it protects our past and secures our future. "
With over 3,500 plant species native to Iraq, the gene bank will conserve rare and wild varieties of grains, vegetables, and indigenous crops. It will support the development of climate-resilient agriculture by preserving traits such as drought tolerance.
Minister Begard Talabani called the initiative a "strategic milestone" that will aid scientific research and protect Iraq's plant diversity for generations to come.
FAO's Salah El Hajj Hassan thanked the EU for its funding and reiterated the project's alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals-particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). He described the gene bank as a centre for innovation and resilience.
The facility will feature storage vaults, laboratories, seed documentation, and conservation units, with planned future expansions including a cryobank, tissue culture laboratory, and field gene bank.
(Source: FAO Iraq)
