Nyon, Switzerland (June 8, 2020) – The International Seed Federation (ISF) held the opening ceremony of its three-day virtual Congress Monday with a discussion about the current and continued importance of the global seed industry.

The virtual Congress replaces the event that was scheduled to be held this week in South Africa but rescheduled due to the COVID-19 crisis. Instead, plans are underway for South Africa to host the World Seed Congress in 2022.

Ensuring the Movement of Seeds

Michael Keller

ISF Secretary General Michael Keller says high quality seed needs to be accessible to farmers around the world. He says the seed sector can emerge stronger after the COVID-19 pandemic than before.

“We are connected by our shared commitment to make high quality seed accessible to more farmers around the world,” Keller says. “I’m entirely convinced that we can emerge out of this pandemic stronger and more united than ever. The world needs a strong seed sector. The current crisis shows the need is stronger than ever.”

Keller says the strength of the seed sector is in its diversity.

“We in the seed sector with the strength of its diversity are ready to engage,” Keller says. “Seed by itself is not the single contributor to agricultural production. Other inputs such as mechanization, digitalization, more integrated approaches, and many other factors are essential, too. But seed by itself is the starting point and the foundational contributor to agricultural production. The World Bank mentioned that it is the most critical input. If the seed is not right, the output will not be right.”

Cooperation will help the global seed sector achieve its goal to make high quality seed accessible to more farmers, Keller adds.

“COVID-19 reminded us that a sudden crisis has the ability to threaten the production of crops and movement of agricultural goods around the world,” Keller continues. “To make seed accessible to farmers to prepare harvest and the food tomorrow, we have had to overcome during the COVID-19 crisis lockdowns, curfews, and restrictions on travel and trade. We are unlikely to return to business as usual, not now and maybe ever. We can yet turn around this crisis to emerge stronger.”

Protecting Seed Quality and Plant Health

Beth Bechdol

Along with COVID-19, the global agriculture industry is facing unprecedented pressure such as climate change and an increasing population, says Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General of Operations.

The responses to these challenges need to come from science and technology and show the importance of quality seeds, she adds.

“We cannot have good crops without good seeds,” Bechdol says. “The chain of seed production, quality control, and distribution, both nationally and internationally, is vital to assuring that we have quality seeds. However, due to COVID-19, we are now seeing potential disruptions in the seed value chain, which may endanger food security in the coming months.”

The FAO is working to develop tools to help member countries make better and more strategic decisions, Bechdol says.

For example, Bechdol says the FAO’s Hand in Hand initiative uses the power of big data in part to target interventions to enhance productivity in developing countries in a sustainable way. Production systems should be knowledge rather than input intensive, she adds.

Ralf Lopian

According to International Year of Plant Health Steering Committee Chair Ralf Lopian, plant health risks and challenges have increased substantially. Since the year 2000, he says agriculture trade has tripled. As a result, new pathways have been created for pests and disease to come into countries.

“Wooden packaging material has proven to be a very effective pathway for pests to change their location,” Lopian says.

The seed sector has an important role to play, as healthy seeds are vital to producing healthy crops.

“Plant health is an important tool to prevent hunger and mitigate some effects of climate change,” Lopian says.

Impact of COVID-19

The virtual congress continues Tuesday and Wednesday with sessions focused on the impact of COVID-19 on the seed industry.

Eduard Fito

ISF President Eduard Fito says more work needs to be done to facilitate the import and export of seeds.

“When something threatens the flow of seeds around the world, it brings into sharp focus the importance of securing the movement of seeds to protect our food security,” Fito says. “This is what happened with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is imperative that we continue to develop the systems approach that was drawn up in the last two years. We must make it clear that humankind still needs to overcome new threats, from diseases, weather changes, and responding to market changes.”

The scheduled sessions are:

COVID-19 and beyond: The future of the seed industry: Tuesday, June 9, 12:00-13:00 CET and 16:00-17:00 CET.

Speakers for the 12:00 session include:

  • Theo de Jager, World Farmers Organisation President
  • Marco van Leeuwen, Rijk Zwaan Managing Director
  • Usha Barwale Zehr, MAHYCO Director and Chief Technology Officer
  • David Malan, Managing Director, Klein Karoo Seed Production

Speakers for 16:00 session include:

  • Lorena Basso, President, Basso Semillas and Asociación Semilleros Argentinos (ASA)
  • Franck Berger, CEO, Limagrain Vegetable Seeds
  • Arnaud Petit, International Grains Council (IGC) Executive Director
  • Arnold Puech d’Alissac, World Farmers' Organisation Treasurer

Re-Examining Innovation After COVID-19: Wednesday, June 10, 12:00-13:00 CET.

Speakers include:

  • Louise Fresco, Wageningen University & Research President of the Executive Board
  • Neal Gutterson, Corteva Agriscience Chief Technology Officer
  • Vicente Navarro, BASF Vegetable Seed Senior Vice President
  • Jeff Rowe, Syngenta Global - Seeds President

More information is available here. After the live event, information from the virtual Congress will be accessible June 11-17.

Written by Chris Lusvardi, Seed Today editor