As part of global efforts to support the conservation of bananas and plantains, Bioversity International and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven have come to an agreement to store Bioversity's collection of banana and plantain germplasm at the university in Leuven, Belgium.
1 March 2013: As part of global efforts to support the conservation of bananas and plantains, Bioversity International and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven have come to an agreement to store Bioversity’s collection of banana and plantain germplasm at the university in Leuven, Belgium. Given the central role of bananas and plantains as carbohydrate sources in the tropics, the collaboration aims to support research to improve crop production, train researchers and technicians in developing countries, and organize the collection and exchange of information related to bananas and plantains. The university will provide its advanced cryopreservation technologies to support the storage of banana germplasm. Bioversity International is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [Bioversity International Press Release]