New Regional Seed Association Formed
History was made on 18 July in Istanbul, Turkey when the formation of the new regional seed association was announced by 10 member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region comprising of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The decision to form this association followed an intense two-day consultative meeting amongst delegates, which was held on 17-18 July under the aegis of the ECO Secretariat as part of the intra-regional Technical Cooperation Project supported by FAO and implemented jointly with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Prior to that a three-day regional workshop on harmonization of seed regulations attended by more than 50 Senior Government officials and representatives of the private sector, after discussing technical and policy issues, endorsed harmonization and the need for a regional association to translate this into a reality.
The delegates worked day and night reviewing the existing opportunities for public-private partnerships and reached a consensus to embark on the formation of the new regional seed association that will represent the interests of all the member countries and contribute to the development of the seed sector in the region. In recognition of the advanced nature of the Turkish seed industry and the leadership role it could play in ensuring the visibility and viability of the association, the delegates agreed to locate the headquarters of the regional seed association in Ankara.
Also present at the meeting were international experts as well as executives of the International Seed Federation (ISF) representing the global seed industry and the Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) who shared their experiences in facilitating seed security and seed trade.
ECO, FAO and ICARDA worked closely with member countries, and particularly the Government of Turkey in facilitating the meeting which lead to the formation of the regional seed association. The membership of the association will be open to all seed companies and service providers to the seed industry from ECO region and beyond.
The ECO member countries collectively represent a huge seed market worth billions of dollars. The estimated domestic annual seed market based on potential demand in the top three countries alone is close to US $1 billion.
In his opening statement Dr Metin Genckol, Director of Agriculture and Tourism of ECO, stressed that “the ECO region covers about 800 million ha with rich diversity in agro-ecology, farming systems, crops and a population of over 350 million. We are cultivating barely half of the available land (only 24%) from the potential cultivable area of 49%. Obviously there is great opportunity for expansion and diversification of agriculture in the era of soaring food prices”.
Dr Zewdie Bishaw, Head of ICARDA’s Seed Unit, said that “organizing the seed industry is in the best interest of farmers. “Today the winners are the farmers of the ECO region who would be served better through better organized seed industry,” he added.
In his closing remarks Dr Michael Larinde of FAO said: “Today we have planted a seed which should be nurtured to develop into a productive plant that would bear fruits to meet regional food security”.
For Immediate Release
ICARDA, ECO and FAO
For more information contact the following people:
Metin Genckol, ECO Secretariat, No. 1, Golobu Alley, Kamranieh; P.O. Box 14155-6176, Tehran, Iran; Tel: +98-21-2831733-
Michael A. Larinde, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla; 00100 Rome, Italy; Tel: +3906-5705-3969;
Zewdie Bishaw, ICARDA, P.O Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria; Tel: +963-21-2213433;
