Bangkok, Thailand
June 9, 2008
 Asia
& Pacific Seed Association (APSA) President Madoka Koshibe
formally announced the appointment of the new Secretariat Deputy
Director, Dr. Zenaida Nisperos Ganga.
”Zen” as she is preferred to be called was chosen because of her
qualifications and previous experiences. She has a Ph.D. in
Plant Breeding from Cornell University New York, USA, with minor
fields in Entomology and International Agriculture; and a
Master’s degree in Horticulture major in Vegetable Crops, minor
in Plant Pathology from University of the Philippines at Los
Banos. As a plant breeder and as a research manager, she
received a number of awards in the past such as: “Outstanding
Research Manager” (2000) by the Philippine Association of
Research Managers (PHILARM), “Ten Outstanding Young Scientists”
(1995) by the National Academy of Science & Technology
(Philippines) and was selected as one among the “Outstanding
Filipino Women Research Managers and Scientists in Agriculture &
Natural Resources” (2002) featured in a book published by SEARCA
& DOST-PCARRD in the Philippines
Dr. Ganga’s appointment will strengthen the Secretariat as APSA
gears to direct the region’s seed industry. Her extensive
technical experiences will be helpful with APSA’s various
activities and diverse members. Her professional experiences
include potato breeding with a private company in Ontario,
Canada and with the Aroostook Research Farm at the University of
Maine in the US. She was also a Visiting Researcher under the
Fulbright Fellowship at the Department of Plant Breeding &
Genetics at Cornell University, where she trained on the use of
new molecular techniques in Plant Breeding. She served as the
Director of the Highland Agriculture and Resources Research and
Development Consortium in the Philippines and as Director of the
Northern Philippines Root Crops Research and Training Center. In
2006 she also served as the Chair of the Breeding & Genetics
section of the Potato Association of America.
As a plant breeder and a research manager from the 80’s to the
present, Zen expresses the importance of the association in the
region.
“APSA is very important, especially at this point in time when
Asia is becoming the global leader in trade and industry and the
major source of agricultural crops to the rest of the world.
APSA provides its members more edge to compete with the rest of
the world and more opportunities by equipping them with the
latest production tools and technologies, training and relevant
technical and market information, particularly on the use of
higher quality seeds and greater diversity of available new crop
species and varieties.”
“It serves as the initiator and facilitator of R & D programs,
training, information dissemination and formulation of rules and
policies that help in developing and promoting the seed industry
and seed trade in the region.”
“The Association serves as the bridge between the private
sectors and the government in addressing issues pertaining crop
production, seed industry and seed trade in the region”.
“It binds together the different stakeholders of the seed
industry and seed production sectors making the association
stronger and more relevant in the pursuit of more sustainable
agriculture in the region.”
“APSA is committed to helping and supporting the major
stakeholders of the seed industry through its various programs
and activities as stated in its mission and objectives. It
focuses on the most important element of crop production which
is the SEED. High quality seed means better yield and increased
production; and, in turn would translate to more food, better
profit and improved life in the region.”
“With the members’ high quality seeds, APSA will play a
significant role in the UN’s call for increased food production
to at least 50% within the next 30 years to address hunger and
poverty in the world, particularly in less-developed countries.”
As Dr. Ganga started her post as APSA’s Deputy Director on June
2, 2008, she recognised that APSA should be fair to every
member, regardless of their size, background and affiliation.
But she also sees the need to give special attention to new
members as well as the smaller companies to allow them to grow
and become more integrated into the group.
“APSA should be bold and decisive on important issues and should
act as a group to address them. But also, it should act as a
neutral entity – unbiased, objective and non-partisan as it
deals with all the major players in the seed industry like the
private companies, the government and research institutions to
name a few.
Dr. Zenaida Nisperos Ganga is married to Agriculture Engineer
Erwin Ganga and is blessed with three children. Jon David (23
yrs old), who just finished his MBA in Florida and two teenage
girls, Erin Grace and Ruth Abigail who are now living with her
in Bangkok. |
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