The opium-free poppy seed is the result of five years of research by scientists at the government-run Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants based in Lucknow.
During January, other national seed banks supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) began packing and shipping duplicate collections that will be stored at Svalbard.
Chongqing Holley, a sister company of Kunming's, has set up a research laboratory in Hunan to help it identify high-yielding plants and establish a seed bank.