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 Green line - may/june 2008
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Market Share
In order to increase its soybean seed market share in Brazil, Syngenta Seeds is undertaking major changes in its soybean development program. One of the moves was to hire Mr. Jose Carlos Carramate, a well known expert in the soybean market, who will coordinate its marketing division. The soybean seed business in Brazil is worth over a half a billion dollars.
Vegetable seed market
Dr. Marcio Nascimento works as consultant specialist on vegetable seeds and has recently arrived from a business trip. As part of his consultancy work abroad he analyzed, together with the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) and European seed traders, the state of the global vegetable seed trade. They established that its size exceeds the R$ 3 billion figure and that the sanitary condition of seeds continues to be the main obstacle for their trade worldwide.
Handbook
ISTA Handbook on Moisture Determination aims at promoting uniformity for the testing procedures to determine seed moisture content by supplying plenty of practical information along with a comprehensive review on seed moisture and its relation to seed physiology. The handbook contains 248 pages in a loose-leaf format that facilitates its updating. It is edited by Harry Nijenstein, Jetted Nydam, Ronald Don and Craig McGill.
Biotech crops
At the present time, where people of low income are eaten more and better, biotech crops are receiving special attention for its high potential to allow increasing global crop productivity in a sustainable crop production system. In 2007 more than 12 million hectares were cultivated with biotech crops being 12% more in relation to 2006. Biotech crops are really receiving the attention that they deserves.
Seed treatment
The newly released soybean varieties introduced by Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, will have their seeds treated with CruiserMaxx™ Beans brand seed treatment from Syngenta Seed Care, offering soybean growers a powerful combination of traits and pest protection. The automatic application of CruiserMaxx Beans to these new varieties will enhance the genetic yield potential in every seed. The seed treatment consists of an insecticide/fungicide mixture.
Focus
Bolivia has a strong seed program, especially in the State of Santa Cruz where more than 50 000 t of seeds are produced annually under the seed certification schemes from OECD. It also has a seed lab accredited by the International Seed Testing Association and now, are considering to join the International Seed Federation (ISF) in order to facilitate seed exports. SEED News whishes success for this initiative, noting that Bolivia will be the first country from the Andean Region to join ISF.
Visit by ISF
Last March a delegation from the International Seed Federation (ISF) visited Brazil to check on the infrastructure available for hosting its Congress in this country. The aim was to select a possible venue, to establish responsibilities and to discuss funding, sponsorships and logistics schemes. The ISF's 2008 Congress will be held in Prague, Chezck Republic, and it has been agreed that Brazil will be proposed to host the next Congress.
Success
Paraguay has become an example on how to successfully engage in the task of bringing together all the players in the soybean business. The partnership between cooperatives, producer associations, seed growers and breeders has paved the way for agreements on how to effectively collect the Technology Tax on RR soybean. The estimate for this year is for revenue in excess of USD 15 million, which will be distributed among the different components of the soybean chain, including a research institution. Good example.
Soybean
The event Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ in soybean from Monsanto is expected to reach a large area under cultivation in 2009. It has received approval from many countries. This event will provide the soybean seed with higher performance against weeds and higher yield.
Seed Trade
Brazil is one the largest seed producers in the world, however, the country shows a low profile in relation to its role in the global seed trade. This was the focus of a conference that Dr. Marcel Bruins, from ISF, addressed to the Brazilian Seed Growers Association. Dr Bruins emphasized on the benefits to increase the involvement with ISF, through participation in the different committees and other activities developed by ISF, suggestions that were welcomed by the audience.
Hybrid rice
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos (Philippines) formally launched the Hybrid Rice Research and Development Consortium (HRDC). The HRDC is a new partnership between the public and private sectors aiming to increase rice production via the accelerated development and introduction of hybrid rice technologies. The HRDC inaugural meeting was attended by 19 founding private-sector company members from seven countries and by 15 institutions from the public sector. Hybrid rice is known to increase yield by 30% in relation to conventional rice varieties.
Africa
Embrapa, the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock research Company, has launched an initiative, through its office in Africa for a joint project with ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics). Through this initiative, different Brazilian plant cultivars, well adapted to tropical environments, will be available for observation and assessment. The project will also focus on the production of high quality seed from these plant varieties, which are grown mostly in small farm properties.
Partnership
Bayer CropScience and Monsanto closed an exclusive agreement on a new cutting edge fungicide treatment for corn seeds. The product, which is expected to be marketed simultaneously with the planned launch of Monsanto's SmartStax™, will provide corn farmers with a significant improvement in early-season protection against seedling diseases and insects as well as weed control. The new seed treatment will be based on the Bayer CropScience product Vortex®, a new fungicide providing enhanced broad spectrum disease control and seed safety for corn seeds.
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