Beirut, Lebanon
October 2013

Source: ICARDA

National and local seed systems that produce and distribute quality seed are an indispensable pillar of healthy agriculture and global food security. However, 80–90% of food grains in many developing countries still depend on informal seed systems that consist of recycling seed of older varieties saved during harvest and uncoordinated exchanges of seed among farmers.

Meanwhile, public sector seed systems in many of these countries often lack efficiency and market orientation. Farmers' current dependency on weak seed systems results in the slow adoption of new improved varieties, low yields, and heightened susceptibility to crop diseases, imperiling food security at the household, national, and global levels.

During the 2011/12 cropping season, ICARDA drew on its expertise to work with countries – including Egypt, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Yemen – to comprehensively strengthen the various elements that enable seed systems to function effectively. ICARDA implemented a project to strengthen seed systems by supporting variety testing and release, seed production and distribution, the popularization of new disease-resistant varieties, and institutional capacity building.

ICARDA's work has focused on reducing the threat of wheat rust diseases – the potential threat of stem rust (black rust) and the current attacks over the past four years by yellow rust (stripe rust) that have damaged wheat harvests in large areas. The emergence in 1999 of a virulent strain of wheat stem rust called 'Ug99' and its rapid spread through parts of Africa and the Middle East has raised alarm among the international community.

Most widely cultivated wheat varieties are susceptible to this fungus, highlighting the fact that agricultural problems in one location can potentially affect the food security of billions of people across national borders. ICARDA works with many developing countries to improve their formal and informal seed systems, to maximize the productivity and sustainability of agriculture, and to ensure resilience in the face of natural disasters, climate change, and crop pandemics such as 'Ug99'.

Accelerating variety testing and release, and seed multiplication

ICARDA has long advocated that fast-tracking variety testing and release is crucial for the rapid deployment of rust-resistant and high-yielding varieties to replace existing commercial varieties susceptible to rust. In 2012, ICARDA's partners in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Pakistan evaluated several promising lines for final release. In Ethiopia, for example, three bread wheat varieties (one from ICARDA) and two durum wheat varieties (from ICARDA) were released for large-scale commercialization.

Accelerating seed multiplication helps farmers access such new improved varieties quickly and sow them in their fields. ICARDA's approach addresses both the pre-release and post-release stages of seed multiplication of early generation seed (breeder to basic). During the pre-release period, ICARDA initiates seed multiplication earlier to guarantee that sufficient quantities of basic (foundation) seed are available when the variety is released.

Over the past 12 months, pre-release multiplication of 31 potential promising lines was carried out in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Pakistan with ICARDA's support. During this period, ICARDA also supported the post-release seed multiplication of 23 varieties with yellow rust and/or 'Ug99' resistance which were fed into large-scale certified seed production and marketing by the public or private sector.

Following these practices, Egypt has produced nearly 11,000 tons of seed of two new rust-resistant varieties by its public and private sector, enough to plant some 6% of the land devoted to wheat in the coming year. In Ethiopia, the production of over 27,000 tons of seed of two new rust-resistant varieties by public sector enterprises will be enough to plant around 10% of its total wheat area. In Pakistan, some 11,780 tons of seed of one rust-resistant bread wheat variety was multiplied by the private and public sector sufficient for about 10% of the area in southern Punjab. The accelerated seed multiplication was initiated with 25–50 kg source seed supplied by the international agricultural research centers to national partners for evaluation of elite lines and initiation of accelerated seed multiplication on the launch of the project in the 2008/09 crop season.

Bringing new varieties of seeds to the fields

Popularizing new resistant varieties enables farmers to replace their old rust-susceptible varieties with new rust-resistant ones. With ICARDA's support, national agriculture research systems in Egypt, Pakistan, and Ethiopia in 2012 actively popularized new improved seed varieties by spreading word among farmers about the threats of rust and the availability of resistant varieties. In Egypt, the National Wheat Research Program carried out 1,233 demonstrations across 23 governorates to disseminate knowledge about the new varieties and their associated agronomic practices. Some 450 fields were planted with the two newly-released wheat cultivars 'Misr1' and 'Misr2', both of which are resistant to 'Ug99'. The demonstration plots showed that farmers using the new varieties can increase their grain yield by around 20%.

These new varieties can be hard to obtain in remote areas in some developing countries. Bringing seed to farmers in such regions requires an innovative approach based on decentralized seed production and marketing with the participation of farmers themselves. In Pakistan, ICARDA initiated farmer-based seed production in partnership with BARI-Chakwal, CCRI-Nowshera, and NIFA-Peshawar. Entrepreneur farmers received seed of new varieties and fertilizers together with training on quality seed production. They were monitored regularly and given access to low-cost mobile seed cleaning and treatment machines designed by ICARDA. The farmers produced over 56 tons of seed from eight different bread wheat varieties, and many succeeded in selling their seed at prices that were 30–50% above the local grain price.

Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, ICARDA directly engaged with farmers to ensure the rapid deployment of rust-resistant and high-yielding wheat varieties. A total of 4,239 farmers planted 176 tons of seed from 13 different rust-resistant varieties, producing 3,720 tons of seed. Farmers kept 10% of the produce for their own future use, returned the amount they had originally received from the project in kind, and exchanged the remaining seed through local channels or sold it to the formal sector for further distribution to farmers.

Establishing seed technology units

Working with partners in the Arabian Peninsula, ICARDA initiated an extensive research and technology transfer program on identifying and promoting local production and utilization of indigenous plant species for feed production and range rehabilitation. The ultimate goal of the program is to save the scarce water resources in the region, minimize degradation, and conserve local plant flora and biodiversity through improved indigenous forage seed multiplication and distribution.

ICARDA assisted in the establishment of seed technology units, responsible for seed production of target species through improved agronomic management practices, appropriate harvesting and processing technologies, and extensive capacity building. In 2012, ICARDA supported the creation of units in Yemen where appropriate equipment was identified and staff trained, in addition to those already established in UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
Building seed systems capacity for a food secure future

In NARS, the commercialization of a new variety after its release is a difficult process. Frequent obstacles include the lack of physical and financial resources, the lack of a clear mandate, and risk avoidance. In order to address this issue, ICARDA worked with national partners to strengthen their institutional and human capacity for seed commercialization.

In 2012, ICARDA provided field machinery (four tractors, four seed drills/planters, two levelers, four rotovators, and four threshers) to four NARS partners in Pakistan to strengthen early generation seed production. In addition, ICARDA organized courses on seed science and technology, giving 100 participants from 11 countries in Asia and Africa the opportunity to study subjects such as variety identification and maintenance, seed production, seed marketing, seed enterprise development, and seed quality assurance.

Future plans for this seed systems work with partner countries include expanding its framework for the rapid deployment of new rust-resistant varieties – originally developed in response to 'Ug99'. This approach will be adapted to other crop improvement and seed delivery processes to ensure that natural disasters, climate change and crop pandemics pose less of a threat to national food security.
 

Website: http://www.icarda.org

Published: October 9, 2013