eed Info aims to stimulate communication and information exchange among seed staff in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region. The purpose is to contribute towards the development of stronger national seed programs which supply quality seed to farmers.

        In this issue Jan-Peter Nap from Plant Research International, The Netherlands presents a lead article entitled the opportunities and challenges of biotechnology crops. He discusses the biotechnological tools available, the research objectives and the status and future prosects of genetic engineering. Moreover, Wynand J. Van Der Walt, from The South African National Seed Organisation describes a proposed new national biotechnology strategy for South Africa. The strategy is designed to stimulate the growth of similar industry in South Africa by the establishment of Biotechnology Advisory Council to oversee its implementation. Michael Turner of the ICARDA Seed Unit introduces some of the recent developments in Africa aimed at harmonising seed regulations and promoting regional trade in seeds. Vincent Gwarazimba from the Zimbabwe will present a detailed account of these regional initiatives in the next issue of Seed Info. There is also news on 26th ISTA Congress held in France and FAO expert consultation meeting on vegetable seed production for the Near East and North Africa region in Egypt.
        The section on SEED PROGRAMS includes news from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Pakistan. Salah Abd El Wanis reported on recent developments in the national seed sector in Egypt and Adnan Abdel Nour on the new plant variety protection law in Jordan. Mohamed Tourkmani presents a short note on the Moroccan seed industry while news from Pakistan describes new local initiatives in production and certification of horticultural crop seed and planting material.
        In the HOW TO section, your regular contributor, Abdoul Aziz Niane explains the ISTA Quality Assurance program describing the essence of Standardized Operation Procedures (SOPs). 
        Laboratory seed testing is a long established quality assurance program to guarantee seed quality based on sound scientific knowledge. However, the search for new, quick and reliable techniques and standardization of the procedures is in continuous development. The RESEARCH section highlights new approaches in seed and seedling evaluations. The technique using scanner and computer technology offers many advantages as reported by McDonald and colleagues from the Ohio State University.
        This newsletter is meant to promote communication among the seed people and the public at large within the West Asia North Africa region and beyond. We would like to receive your views and opinions. You can send us your contributions in any format to inform us what is happening in your organization, country, region or global levels which are influencing the current issues in seed program development. Your contribution is highly appreciated. Let us keep Seed Info informative!

We wish you an enjoyable read.