Genebank – Digitalization

The very core of NordGen’s genebank is the information system that contains all the data gathered over the years about the seeds and the plants in the Nordic seed and plant collection. This data is unique and invaluable for the research and development of new crop varieties needed to support future food production in the Nordic countries. 

During the last few years, NordGen has been on an ambitious digitalization journey to secure that the genebank information system is future proof. In 2019, NordGen decided to implement the internationally well-known genebank data management software GRIN-Global. 

The project reached a very important milestone in 2020 with the launch of the Nordic Baltic Genebanks Information System, GENBIS’ which is built within the GRIN-Global data management system. This is a critical step bringing improved possibilities for strengthening documentation processes in the genebank, and will secure efficiency, security and accuracy in the seed handling and documentation as well as providing a more user-friendly interface for seed requesters.

 

GENBIS will serve not only NordGen but also enable users to explore data from eleven different genebanks, including the Nordic and Baltic national genebanks. This has in a positive way impacted collaboration between NordGen and the Nordic and Baltic national programs for plant genetic resources. 

In 2022, the cooperation with the Baltic countries continued and in November, a workshop was organized by NordGen on site in Alnarp. During the year, the last implementation were also made in GENBIS, leading to a more user-friendly instrument. Within the digitalization area the work with optimizing the data servers continued and the work on developing a new interface to the website began.