ICARDA Annual Report 2001

When seed reaches farmers, it is the end product of a long process of varietal development research. ICARDA’s role does not end with the development of an improved variety. A difficult task remains to distribute the seed to farmers throughout the CWANA region, with a special need to reach the region’s numerous small-scale farmers. The Center’s Seed Unit collaborates with national programs to address the distribution issue, providing the backstopping they need to develop and manage their seed systems. In 2001, the Seed Unit made further progress in developing national seed supply systems, worked with small-scale farmers in Turkey to improve their access to improved seed, and organized training programs in line with the CWANA countries’ needs.

Research projects undertaken by the Seed Unit address practical problems associated with seed production and delivery. One such project, financed by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), is assessing the impact of policy changes on seed delivery to small-scale farmers so that recommendations on the best alternative mechanisms for seed supply can be made. National seed industries in the region are at different stages of development. Some have state-controlled seed supply systems and others have varying levels of private sector involvement. With changing macro policies, seed industry activities become more diverse, influencing the efficiency and effectiveness of seed supply to farmers. This project involved studies by local consultants in Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. The results of these studies have been analyzed and are being collated for a publication that will serve as a policy guide to seed sector development in the region.

Another research activity during 2001 examined the factors limiting the supply of forage seed. Inadequate supply of seed, linked to unfavorable economics, has constrained the uptake of forage technologies in the region. This study was based on a survey of farmers in northeast Syria and examined how the closely related issues of animal, forage, and seed production could be integrated into national livestock policies. The results of this study have also been analyzed and publications are being prepared.

The Seed Unit worked closely with ICARDA’s Arabian Peninsula Regional Program, based in Dubai, to produce quality seed of native grasses for sowing in the rangelands as an alternative source of pasture. Because grass species differ widely, the standard cleaning methods used for other crop seeds may not be adequate, and the modification of equipment and/or techniques may be necessary. Chaffiness, long awns, and fragility are among the physical features of grass species that make seed processing difficult. Several tests were carried out to assess the seed-cleaning efficiency of standard equipment in order to identify and recommend changes and additions suited to the grass species concerned. Based on these results, two sets of new threshers and seed-cleaning machines were identified and are now available for processing grass seed in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

The problem of distributing new varieties amongst small-scale farmers is a key constraint to raising farm productivity and household income, maintaining food security, and helping to alleviate poverty in developing countries. Seed delivery is often a weak link between variety development and adoption by farmers, particularly for self-pollinating crops such as wheat, barley, lentil, and chickpea. The Seed Unit is collaborating with the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) in Turkey to identify alternative institutional arrangements that could overcome this familiar bottleneck. As part of this effort, ICARDA organized a visit for nine farmers and technical

Over the last 15 years the Seed Unit has carried out a comprehensive ‘train-the-trainers’ program, which has helped to establish a strong technical basis for many national seed programs in the region. This was made possible through the joint assistance of the Governments of the Netherlands and Germany through DGIS and GTZ, respectively. Seed Unit staff have learned a lot through interacting with farmers, technical staff, administrators, and policy makers at different levels.

Seed programs in the region are changing as countries undergo economic reform, and ICARDA has modified its training strategy to adapt to this diversification. There is now less emphasis on instruction in specific technical subjects and more attention paid to policy and business management. The Seed Unit jointly identifies training needs with bilateral aid agencies, bringing together ICARDA seed specialists and participants from different countries to discuss and exchange ideas and experiences. Such a training program on variety management was organized in 2001 for 11 participants from 6 countries, some of them sponsored by FAO and UNDP.

staff from southeastern Anatolia to examine seed multiplication fields and other experimental plots on the ICARDA farm and to hold discussions with other farmers working with the Syrian General Organization for Seed Multiplication (GOSM). During this visit the farmers identified crop varieties of interest for their own testing and distribution to other farmers in the region.

The Seed Unit also collaborates with the ICARDA Farmer Participatory Barley Improvement Project in the development of seed-cleaning facilities for farmers based on locally manufactured machines. These facilities could form the basis for organizing groups of farmers into small-scale enterprises as alternative seed suppliers within local communities. Following rigorous tests, four new machines are being built for delivery to farming communities in pilot sites.

Similarly, a course in Seed Production and Marketing for seed producers, dealers, and extension staff in Turkey was sponsored by GAP with technical contributions from the Seed Unit. A total of 20 leading professionals from different agricultural institutions in southeastern Anatolia participated in this course, which took the form of a week’s ‘retreat’ on the largest state farm in Turkey. Intensive brainstorming was a major part of the course and resulted in recommendations for developing more effective alternative seed delivery systems for the main crops grown by small farmers in the region.