Digitizing Genebanks: Genesys and GGCE

Genesys now hosts information on over 4,460,000 samples, representing 75 percent of the 5.9 million accessions held globally, according to The Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Managing and making this information openly available is a fundamental component of an effective global genebank system.

In 2025, genebanks added information on 160,000 new accessions, 31 subsets and 39 datasets with trait information. Around 1,000 new users registered with Genesys during the year – about 25 percent more than in the previous year. We transmitted 550 requests for diversity from users to genebanks, a 20 percent increase from last year. The increase in requests is primarily due to genebanks such as WorldVeg, IRRI and CIMMYT using Embedded Genesys on their institutional websites.

We introduced 17 new genebanks to GGCE and throughout the year, assisted 40 genebanks with their adoption and use of this essential software for genebanks. A highlight is a successful evaluation of GGCE in four genebanks in Southern Africa, supported by the Federal Government of Germany. Their evaluation resulted in a proposal of the SADC Plant Genetic Resources Center (SPGRC) to “implement a modernized SDIS platform powered by GGCE technology” across all member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the coming years.

Feedback and input from GGCE users have been crucial in the development of new features, such as rapid inventory registration, improved barcode labeling, managing seed multiplication, and integration with Genesys. Strategic direction is provided by the newly formed GGCE Advisory Group.

In 2025, the Crop Trust organized a regional workshop for Southern African genebanks in Johannesburg in June, and another for genebanks in the NENA region in Morocco in October. We also hosted monthly teleconferences of the Community of Practice on Data Management in English, Spanish and French.