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September 18, 2008
Source:
SEED INFO - Official newsletter of the WANA Seed Network No. 35,
July 2008
Partial table of contents:
-
First
seed storage facility for village-based seed enterprises in
Afghanistan
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ICARDA organizes variety maintenance and breeder seed production
course for Iraq
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Plant variety protection in Morocco
-
Pakistan launches vegetables seed production program
- and more
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SEED PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS
In this section we invite national seed programs, projects,
universities, and regional and international organizations to
provide news about their seed-related activities..
ASMED construct first seed storage facility for Village-based
Seed Enterprises in Afghanistan
ICARDA has established 17 Village-based Seed Enterprises (VBSEs)
in three provinces in Eastern Afghanistan: Kunar, Laghman and
Nangarhar through RAMP and ADP/E programs of USAID. Almost all
VBSEs are engaged in seed production and marketing of wheat,
rice and mung bean. In 2008, the 17 VBSEs have collectively
planted 669 ha and expected to produce about 2500 tonnes of
wheat, rice, mung bean and potato seed for marketing.
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The model local seed
storage facility built for Behsood VBSE, Behsood
district, Nangarhar, Afghanistan |
However, lack of centrally located proper storage facilities
remain a major constraint for VBSEs. ICARDA negotiated with
Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development to provide
support for constructing a seed storage facility. Behsood VBSE
was the first beneficiary where the storage facility was
constructed on land provided by one of its members. The model
storage facility (15 m x 10 m x 5 m) at a cost of around $13,000
has the capacity of more than 200 MT. The facility will help in
maintaining seed quality and seed marketing. Each VBSE will
require such facility for its promotion and seed marketing
purposes.
Mr.
Abdul Latif Babakarkhil, District Administrator and H. E. Haji
Fazal Rahim, member of provincial assembly chaired the inaugural
ceremony in the presence of farmers from three adjoining
districts, and representatives of ASMED, MAIL, ACBAR and ICARDA.
H.E Fazal Rahim member of provincial assembly and Behsood VBSE
highly acclaimed ICARDA and ADP/E for their excellent
contribution for the development of the agricultural sector in
eastern Afghanistan. Farmers were very satisfied with the
support provided by MAIL, ADP-E and ICARDA particularly in
adaptive research, technology transfer and seed provisions
through VBSEs and are committed to increase agricultural
production and productivity in the face of global challenges in
food security.
Khaled Wadan, ICARDA, Jalalabad, Nanagrhar, Afghanistan; E-mail:
k.wadan@cgiar.org
ICARDA Organizes Variety Maintenance and Breeder Seed Production
Course for Iraq
FAO has been implementing a project on 'Rehabilitation and
Development of the National Seed Industry in Iraq'. The
objective of the project is to improve food security and
nutrition through rehabilitation and improvement of the national
seed industry. Capacity development is one of the major
objectives where a series of training courses are conducted
abroad to enhance and strengthen the seed sector. FAO and ICARDA
have formally signed an agreement to organize two month training
program on 'Variety Maintenance and Breeder Seed Production' for
5 Iraqi staff from the State Board of Agricultural Research and
the State Board of Seed Certification and Testing of the
Ministry of Agriculture.
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A practical training
session in variety maintenance plots at ICARDA
headquarters, Aleppo, Syria |
ICARDA had organized the course at its headquarters from 1 April
to 29 May 2008. The course aimed at developing the participants'
knowledge and skills through theoretical lectures and hand-on
practical training. The main objective is to train subject
matter specialists who will subsequently be in charge of variety
maintenance in Iraq and conduct in-country training courses to
technical staff involved in the seed sector. The course focused
on major cereals (wheat, barley) with highlights on legumes
(faba bean, chickpea, lentil) and forages (vetch) and include
various topics among others:
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Morphological variety
description and data analysis;
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Concepts and principles of
variety maintenance and breeder seed production;
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Seed production of subsequent
generations and causes of varietal contaminations.
Field
trips were organized to visit the facilities (basic seed farm,
variety maintenance plots, seed processing center, tissue
culture laboratory, seed testing laboratory) and commercial seed
production, and quality assurance activities of the General
Organization for Seed Multiplication in Syria.
Abdoul Aziz Niane, ICARDA, Aleppo Syria; E-mail:
a.niane@cgiar.org and Rai Ajambar, FAO-Iraq, Amman, Jordan;
E-mail:
ajambar.rai@faoiraq.org
Plant variety
protection in Morocco
In Morocco, the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Law 9/94 was
promulgated in 1997 in order to enhance plant breeding research
and to encourage foreign breeders to introduce well adapted and
high performing varieties. This law conforms to 1991 UPOV
convention to which Morocco is a member since October 2006. The
law has entered into force on 28 October 2002 and to date. two
decrees and seven ministerial orders have been published in the
official gazette. About 76 species can be protected in Morocco
and the list will be updated accordingly. The duration of
protection is 20 years for annual species, 25 years for trees
and grapevine and 30 years for palm dates.
The Seeds and Propagating Material Certification Service is
responsible for the protection of plant breeder's rights.
Therefore, the same facilities and competence used for variety
registration in the Moroccan catalogue are also used for variety
protection; mainly for conducting tests of distinctness,
uniformity and stability (DUS). For varieties already protected
in other countries, the results can be transferred from the
official services of the country of origin and the applicant is
accounted for the charges.
|
Crop species |
Number of varieties under examination
|
Number of protected varieties
|
|
Field crops |
5
|
55
|
|
Potato |
21
|
34
|
|
Strawberry |
5
|
5
|
|
Trees |
15
|
27
|
|
Vine |
21
|
2
|
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Rose |
2
|
1
|
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Total |
69
|
124
|
A gazette 'Bulletin de la protection des obtentions végétales'
is published twice a year, in April and September to inform the
public, and mainly the claimants/owners, about the variety
presented for protection and the varieties being protected under
the law. Since October 2002, enforcement date of PVP law, 124
certificates were issued, 55 belongs to the National Institute
of Agronomic Research (INRA); and 69 applications are under
examination, 5 belongs to INRA (see table below). The applicants
for protection are from Morocco, Europe, South Africa, and USA.
Ammar Tahiri, DPVCTRF, P.O. Box 1308, Rabat, Morocco; E-mail:
amar.tahiri@gmail.com
Pakistan launches vegetables seed production program
Pakistan requires around 6000 t of vegetable seed annually.
About 713 t of seed was produced locally under the supervision
of FSCRD in 2005/06; and continue depending on seed import. In
2006/07, the country has imported 5805 tonnes of vegetable seed
and spent PKR 862,495,862 (USD 1 = 66.8 PKR) importing vegetable
seed, 27% of the value of all seed imports. The government
launched a new project 'Establishment of Facilitation Unit for
Participatory Vegetable Seed and Seedling Production Program'
and called for collaboration with domestic and foreign
companies.
The main objective of the program is to acquire elite vegetable
genetic resources from external sources; collect, ,
characterize, purify and multiply seed of indigenous vegetables;
acquire seed drying, cleaning, coating, pelleting and packaging
equipment; and employing international experts to train
technical staff, seed producers and vegetable growers. Within
this context seed companies are encouraged for direct
investments or joint ventures to extend cooperation for
provision of genetic resources, seed conditioning plants and
licensing agreements for local production and marketing.
The project will establish 10 units across Pakistan where such
arrangements would be provided. These units will be comprised of
private seed companies which will enter into agreement to abide
by IPR issue, royalties and investment in technical staff and
use of genetic resources. The project will facilitate the
participatory units for commercial hybrid seed production. The
project has inbuilt fund provision to pay for materials and
consultants. It also envisages introducing vegetable nursery
production by acquiring controlled environment facility through
the project.
Akhlaq Hussain, FSCRD, G 9/4, Mauve Area, Islamabad, Pakistan;
E-mail: akhlaq7@hotmail.com
View the entire
SEED INFO - Official newsletter of the WANA Seed Network No. 35,
July 2008 |
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