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 Green line - mar/abr 2005
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ISTA
Last January ISTA executive committee met to evaluate several points related with the entity, among them, it was discussed new affiliation forms, the benefit of laboratories services of the seed companies, training programs for seed analysts, accreditation of laboratories based on the performed based approach, analysis of filiations and rules of seed testing.
Orange certificate
Several countries are using the orange seed certificate of ISTA for internal seed commercialization. This certificate demonstrates to consumers that seeds were properly analyzed by a seed laboratory with external quality control and that the seed samples were taken by properly trained personnel and accredited by the laboratory.
Efficiency
The seed production is a process involving field technologies, Post harvesting, evaluation of quality and commercialization. In recent studies in Brazil, it was determined that after the implantation of the cultivar protection law (CPL), the seed producers improved the production efficiency in more than 20%. Before the CPL it was normal to obtain, in soybean, less than 40% efficiency. Today, eight years after the CPL, it is normal a producer to obtain more than 60% of efficiency. This means that from a production potential of 2.5tons/ha, 1.5 tons/ha can be used as seed.
Science and Technology
SEED News had the opportunity to visit recently the University of Wageningen UR, located in Holland, in the city of the same name. It is important to emphasize that the seed staff has strong research programs in the areas of physiology, biotechnology and conditioning of seeds. In this last area they had several advances on separation and identification of materials based on the color of seeds, also with registered patents. This makes the University of Wageningen an institution of international importance in the seed area.
UPOV
Azerbaijan became the 58 th member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). New varieties of plants are one of the most powerful tools to enhance food production in a sustainable way to increase income in the agriculture sector and to contribute to overall development. A variety to be protected must be distinct, sufficient uniform and stable. Considering all members, most of them are registered in the 1991 UPOV convention, which among other things, protects the varieties up to the grain production.
Cotton
With common sense, the Brazilian government specifies that the cotton seeds can not have more than 1% of adventitious materials. Without this tolerance, the sampling has to be carried out with other parameters that are not scientific, because, with zero tolerance, the sample size tends to the infinite. Another aspect is that the production of cotton seeds requires special technology cares that many times are difficult to accomplish. At this moment that the molecular biology is able to identify, with certain easiness, adventitious materials, the tolerances are essential for the distribution of high quality seeds.
Essentially Derived Variety (EDV)
The ISF (International Seed Federation) is elaborating a specific proposal in relationship to the EDV, with the objective of minimizing the disputes among the vegetable obtainers. Among the proposals, the French proposed the use of 200 markers and, in case it occurs similarity in less than 82% the material will not be considered essentially derived. If the similarity is higher than 90%, it will be considered EDV and if the values are between 82 and 90%, more deep studies will be carried out on that material. Fortunately, molecular, physiologic or agronomic tools are available that allows the identification of these materials.
Public and Private Partnership (PPP)
Brazil is relatively young in relation to Cultivar Protection Law (CPL). So Embrapa (Research Institution of Brazil), as a public company, established partnerships with eight seed growers foundations for production and commercialization of seeds of their protected cultivars, according to the CPL . This initiative revealed to be of great commercial and social importance otherwise the small and medium seed producers would be out of business due to the increased activities of the transnational seed companies in the Brazilian seed market.
Cotton companies
Bayer CropScience is purchasing seed production and processing cotton companies to enhance its fast-growing Fiber Max cotton seed business. Currently Bayer is the second largest cotton seed supplier in the United States and has a large market share in Brazil where more than one million hectares are planted. It is important to have control of some key steps in the production and post-harvesting technologies.
PIRACY
The seed business private sector is getting organized in many countries to control piracy of their materials. The government has the law, however to check the implementation of the law, is something else. Usually the government does not have sufficient personnel to do the task or the economic resources. Thus, in order to have the process in a balance way, the private sector must come in, to join efforts.
Performed Based Approach
Seed Science and technology has developed substantially, allowing that some processes be done using different alternatives and giving same results. Some examples are with the methods used to test adventitious seeds, seed moisture content and for seed health. In these cases what is accredited is the laboratory and not the protocol, as long as it has the approval from someone else. It is a new trend in the certification procedures.
Africa
The seed trade in Africa is currently about one billion dollars. This is rapidly increasing with the ongoing shift towards commercial agriculture and the expanding market for horticulture crops. The number of seed of private companies is increasing, where Kenya according to Dr. Joseph Ahenda has now 43 companies in relation to only two, not long ago. A number of national and regional seed trade associations were formed, also indicating and increased interest in the seed trade.
Plagues Risk Analysis
After long discussions between the Ministry of Agriculture (MA) of Brazil and the vegetable seed sector, it was agreed that the MA will emit an instruction service normative, freeing the analysis practically for all species that have been imported by the country. This negotiation also involved ISF personnel. The importation of vegetable seeds in Brazil reaches more than five million dollars per year.
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