Germplasm: Repositories and Ordering Seed

Diverse Rice

US researchers are encouraged to order rice seeds through the US Genetic Stocks - Oryza (GSOR). Please note that GSOR has only a small percentage of the worldwide collection of rice germplasm. If the accessions you wish to order are not available through GSOR, you will need to obtain an import permit and request seed through the the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Researchers outside of the US are encouraged to order rice seeds from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Sources of accessions

  • Rice accessions with identifiers that include PI (Plant Introduction) or CI(Cereal Investigation) are distributed by the National Small Grains Collection (NSGC) at Aberdeen, Idaho, USA. This collection is part of the National Plant Germplasm System and a duplicate set is backed up at the National Seed Storage Laboratory (NSSL) in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
  • Accessions with identifiers IRGC designation are distributed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Philippines.
  • Many accessions are duplicated in the IRRI and United States collections. IRRI and USDA have an agreement for security back-up of the International Rice Germplasm Collection (IRGC) at the National Seed Storage Laboratory (NSSL) in Fort Collins, Colorado. Few gene banks in the world have the necessary storage facilities (in this case at -18°C) or the capacity to offer back-up conservation on this scale. The safe and durable conservation of the IRGC is ensured through duplicate conservation between the two genebanks. For more information, please see http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/Publications/HTMLPublications/43/ch05.htm