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Bringing Seeds of Hope to Farmers – Global Issues

  • Idea by Paul Teng, Genevieve Donnellon-May (Singapore)
  • Joint press service

The COVID pandemic and recently the Ukraine-Russia war disrupt the supply chain and food production for food and farm inputs. People in developing countries are concerned about reduced crop planting and reduced yields due to less use of high-priced fertilizers. In addition to fertilizers, supply chain disruptions affect all the inputs needed for farming, including seeds. The seed is the first link in the food chain.

The availability and accessibility of seeds is essential for farmers, especially in developing countries or areas affected by drought and other disasters, giving rise to the concept of ” seed security, which FAO of the United Nations is defined as “the availability of rural households, especially farmers and farming communities, to an adequate quantity of seed and quality planting material of cultivars, adapted to agroecological conditions and their socioeconomic needs, at the time of sowing, under normal and abnormal weather conditions.” In many developing countries, quality seeds are often produced by companies operating under state supervision.

The importance of having a reliable source of improved seed for farmers has been particularly emphasized in the world’s most populous country, China, where seeds are high on the main agenda. book.

In early April 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts towards food self-sufficiency and develop the country’s seed industry during a visit to a seed laboratory in Hainan province, southern China. He noted that China’s food security can only be protected when the seed resources are firmly in their own hands. President Xi’s comments come at a time when many countries are aiming to increase food self-sufficiency in anticipation of disruptions in supply chains, such as due to the Ukraine-Russia crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. cause.

President Xi’s comments fit the broader context of seeds and food, issues that will only continue to grow in importance. They come at a time when food insecurity is growing worldwide and a global food crisis looms, caused by the Ukraine-Russia War, which is getting worse and worse. geopolitical environment and the increasing vulnerability of global food supply chains due to impacts of climate change and disruptions related to Covid-19.

All of the above fundamentals have prompted China and India to make important moves to harness a proven tool for developing new crop varieties, namely biotechnology.

In April 2022, China’s Ministry of Agriculture first announced the plan after years of deliberation to approval of two new genetically modified maize varieties Developed by Syngenta Group. Previously, in January 2022, China published new guidelines for the approval of genetically modified crops, paving the way for faster improvements to crops critical to food security. And this comes between a variety of measures to overhaul China’s seed industry, seen as a weak link in efforts to ensure it can feed the world’s largest population. China’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tang Renjian, likened seeds to the “computer chip” of the agricultural industry.

In an unrelated parallel development, India passed an important change in the rules at the end of March 2022 to allow genome-edited plants or organisms without any Which “foreign” gene is applied? different management processes compared with that applied to genetically modified products. As in China, this is expected to lead to faster development of new crop varieties that can meet the challenges of climate change and be more productive.

However, not all interested parties support the use of biotechnology to develop new seeds or patent new plant varieties. Despite clear evidence that multinational and domestic seed companies have played an important role in enhancing crop yields through their improved seeds, this has also led to concerns about control that the private sector can have over this important input to food production. And related to this issue of seed control is the patenting of new seeds.

There has been an increase in ‘seed activityand care about seed sovereignty as part of a protest against the modern agricultural system supported by patented seeds such as hybrids. This stumbling block has been fueled by groups exploiting the (often speculative) fear that by controlling the seed, a small number of multinationals, not farmers or nations, can control over the global food supply. This ignores the fact that farmers have the right to choose whatever seeds to plant and even keep their own seeds if they wish. Nor do these groups realize that investments in innovation and new seed production would not be possible without adequate seed protection such as intellectual property. Countries like China and India recognize the importance of fostering innovation in the seed industry.

In particular, China has stated that it aims to revive the seed industry, encourage seed collection and strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in the field. In China, views on the importance of seeds in food security are reflected in various domestic policies such as the 2022 “Central Policy Document No. this country. A top policy priority is to develop the seed industry in China.

The issues of seed-based seed ownership held by farmers, when balanced against track records of improved seeds from high-yielding companies, are complex. But in the final analysis, farmers will choose the seeds that give them the best yield under risky conditions, even if they have to pay for those seeds. This has happened to most of the developed and developing countries that have food surpluses to export, such as the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. And consumers, as well as food importers, are the ones who benefit by having more food at affordable prices.

The first “green revolution” in Asia took place in the 1970s based on improved wheat and rice seeds, bred using new technology at the time. By the end of the last millennium, however, the need for newer technologies for crop improvement became apparent as yield gains were stagnating in many crops. The challenges faced by all smallholder farmers due to climate change, pests and diseases and the depletion of natural resources are becoming more acute and frequent. And unless new seeds are developed and made available to farmers in less time, it will be the consuming public that will suffer the consequences of reduced, unreliable food supplies and higher prices. .

The conundrum is how to balance local ownership of often unimproved and low-yielding seed resources with improved high-yielding seeds produced by seed companies (in national or multinational) developed using modern science. Finally, smallholder farmers around the world deserve new “seeds of hope”.

Paul Teng is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Center for Non-Traditional Security Studies at Nanyang Technological University Singapore. He has worked in the Asia Pacific region on agricultural issues for over 30 years, with international organisations, academia and the private sector.

Genevieve Donnellon-May is a master’s student in Water Science, Policy and Management at the University of Oxford. Genevieve’s research interests include China, Africa, cross-border governance, and the food-energy-water relationship.

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© Inter Press Service (2022) – All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service

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