Shanhua, Taiwan
May 2024

Source: World Vegetable Center newsletter, May 2024
 

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This report documents the progress of the Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) – World Vegetable Center Vegetable Breeding Consortium. Overall, the results of this study clearly show that the Consortium is enabling greater use of WorldVeg germplasm across Asia’s seed sector, and that is benefiting hundreds of thousands of smallholder vegetable farmers across the continent.

Consortium membership increased from 19 members in 2017 to 51 in 2023. Seven seed companies joined the Consortium for the first time in 2023, and 43% of members are small companies with less than a hundred employees. WorldVeg sent 1,156 seed samples to seed companies in 2023 and 11,613 seed samples since the start of the Consortium in 2017. A survey was conducted of past and current members to assess the use of WorldVeg germplasm and quantify its impact. It was found that an increasing number of seed companies are using WorldVeg pepper, tomato, bitter gourd, and pumpkin germplasm in their breeding programs.

The number of vegetable varieties on the market containing WorldVeg-developed germplasm increased from 47 varieties in 2017 to 177 in 2023. Seed sales of these varieties increased from 24.7 tonnes in 2017 to 63.6 tonnes in 2023. This volume is enough to potentially plant 277,600 hectares under Consortium crops and reach 738,000 farm households. Tomato, pepper, and pumpkin varieties are mostly based on WorldVeg germplasm acquired by companies before the launch of the Consortium in 2017, while material provided after 2017 is not yet widely represented in these varieties. Conversely, commercial varieties of bitter gourd are based on WorldVeg germplasm acquired in 2017 or later.

Website: https://avrdc.org/

Published: May 31, 2024