The unique mango heritage of the Indian state of Odisha is being preserved in a germplasm bank.

The Telegraph, India reports that the Saptasajya germplasm bank currently stories the genetic resources of 78 mango varieties that are found in various parts of the state. Some of these varieties, such as Hamilton Sundari, Himsagar, Kalija Munda, Baldev and Kuanri are facing the threat of extinction.

Odisha is home to 264 varieties of mangoes while India boasts 1,000 indigenous varieties.

The germplasm bank, which is storing the different mango varieties in an orchard, will work on developing new varieties suitable for market as well as promoting varieties such as Totapuri, which has a high pulp content, and could be suitable for the mango-based food processing industry. The centre will also be propagating endangered varieties.

The Food and Agriculture Arganization of the United Nations (FAO) recently released the first-ever edition of The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources which calls for urgent action to better manage forests and their genetic resources to ensure rural people who depend on them for nutrition, livelihoods and resilience will be able to rely on their benefits over the long term.

Read the full story: Mango genes find a storage

See also: Call to action to preserve genetic diversity in our forests