Seeds of all major crops in world are now safe even if a global catastrophe were to strike.

Leading scientists unveiled the Global Seed Vault on Tuesday in the Arctic Island of Svalbard, Norway, where up to 4.5 million seeds from around the world will be stored.

Countries that deposit their seeds at the vault will retain ownership and are free to recall the seeds at any time.

Somalia's seed bank was destroyed during the war in that country but scientists there had kept some of their seeds at KARI and were able to retrieve them.

The vault, which has also received over 500 varieties of seeds from Kenya's Gene Bank at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute in Nairobi, will act as an insurance for all countries should a catastrophe strike or some varieties become extinct.

The 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai said the vault was a critical addition to the global efforts to preserve the world's crops. "This should be good news to farmers who have preserved all these different seeds around the world," she said.

According to her, many of the seed varieties she used to see in her childhood had become extinct.

Mr Jose Manuel Barosso, president of the European Commission, who was among the chief guests at the official opening of the vault, said: "This is not just a modern day Noah's Ark, it is like a frozen Garden of Eden".

The Svalbard island is the most northerly point on earth accessible by aeroplane. It is about 1,700km from the North Pole and is famous for its snow. Temperatures on the island can hit a low of negative 30 degrees Celsius in winter and a high of four degrees in summer.

Prof Cary Fowler, the vault's architect, said the low temperatures in the island was one of the reasons the area was chosen to host the unique granary.