ISTA delegates meeting FAO director general in Rome
Rama Krishna Sangem
The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) delegation, headed by Dr. Keshavulu, had a meeting with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director General Dr. Qu Dongyu and other higher officials of FAO in Rome, Italy, to discuss key agendas aimed at sustainable agriculture development, enhancing food security and advancing seed testing and quality assurance globally.
In the meeting, Dr. Keshavulu, ISTA President, extended a formal invitation to Dr. Qu Dongyu, Director General of FAO for the opening ceremony of the ISTA Centenary Annual Meeting 2024, scheduled from July 1–4, 2024, in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Dr. Dongue has happily accepted the ISTA’s invitation and agreed to attend the opening ceremony either personally or through a recorded video message, emphasizing the importance of the occasion in advancing global agricultural goals.
Dr. Dongue congratulated the ISTA on its successful completion of 100 years and mentioned that ISTA has been a key organisation for seed and food security in more than 83 countries and expanding its reach worldwide.
Emphasis on High Quality Seeds:
During the discussions, Dr. Dongyu highlighted the critical role of high-quality seeds in agricultural development and efforts to eradicate hunger globally. He underscored the significance of ensuring access to high-quality seeds for farmers to improve agricultural productivity and food security. He mentioned that, the Governments across the world need to focus and work collectively in developing effective seed systems for ensuring high quality seeds to farmers.
He also mentioned that, many countries are focusing on only food crops, however, he emphasised that there is a need to focus on ensuring availability of high-quality planting materials in horticultural crops as well including medicinal and aromatic crops as the horticulture crops plays an important role alleviating malnutrition.
Recognition of ISTA’s Vital Role:
The FAO Director General emphasized the vital role played by ISTA in developing seed standards, facilitating seed trade worldwide, and supporting farmers by providing access to high-quality seeds. He acknowledged and appreciated the ISTA’s contributions being an intergovernmental seed organisation to the seed quality assurance and its impact on global agriculture.
Further, Dr. Dongyu also emphasised the partnership and collaboration between the ISTA and FAO for the global cause of achieving zero hunger by 2030. He ensured the continued collaboration between FAO and ISTA in their shared vision for global food security, aligned with Sustainable Development Goal #2 of the United Nations. He underscored the need for enhanced collaborations and cooperation between the ISTA and FAO for developing effective and resilient seed systems in FAO member countries.
Need for stringent seed regulations:
In the meeting Dr. Dongyu, mentioned that high quality improved breeding lines and varieties are very essential, even though large number of crop cultivars are available worldwide, only public bred are documented properly and hence need to have proper documentation of private bred varieties as well.
Further, he stressed that their large number of players in seed sector from private, which are of varying size and degree of competencies, which are often causing quality issues in seed supply chain and hence countries need to have stringent seed regulations to address spurious seed issues. In the meeting it was also discussed that, few of highly trade crop seeds are not having globally validated testing methodologies as result hindering their seed trade between the countries. So, it was suggested the ISTA to focus on developing methodologies for such crops seeds for promoting their seed trade across the borders.
During the discussions, Dr. Keshavulu explained about the Telangana Seed Industry to Dr. Qu Dongyu, who recalled his visit to Hyderabad, India, to attend the G-20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting that was held in June 2023 at Hyderabad and appreciated the Government of Telangana for its successful organisation. He also mentioned that Telangana has a great potential for seed production and exports.
Global Conference on Seed Health:
Seed health and phytosanitary measures are important aspects in international seed trade and movement of seeds between countries as it prevents the spread of pathogens that can cause crop diseases, ensures genetic purity and crop quality, and upholds compliance with phytosanitary regulations. Seed health safeguards the agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and food safety, fostering transparent and reliable trade relationships while protecting ecosystems and farmers interests.
In the meeting, discussions were also held on seed health testing / phytosanitary certification and its significance in seed trade between countries. The Director General of FAO, emphasized that there is need for capacity-building activities in seed health testing, he mentioned that, protocols, procedures and regulations on seed health testing are not uniform among the countries, and there is a lack of awareness among the National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) in implementation of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs).
In this regard, it is proposed to have a Global Conference on Seed Health to address the issues of seed health and phytosanitary certification for 2 to 3 days with collaboration between ISTA, FAO, IPPC and ISF in November 2024. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) suggested to have this Global Conference in India and requested Dr. Keshavulu, ISTA President to take lead in organising the event by involving global experts and stakeholders.
ISTA Centenary Celebrations:
In the meeting, Dr. Keshavulu, ISTA President, updated the DG, FAO about the ISTA Centenary Annual Meeting-2024, comprising of seminars, technical committee meetings, and the Ordinary General Meeting. A brief discussion was also held on ISTA Ministerial Conference to be held in conjunction with the ISTA Centenary Annual Meeting 2024. The theme, “The Role and Future of ISTA in Seed Testing and Quality Assurance in the Face of Climate Change,” aims to address the needs and challenges identified by ISTA member countries.
The conference will provide a platform for ministerial presentations, discussions on regional needs, capacity-building programs, and future strategies of ISTA. The Director General of FAO has assured that FAO seed officials from Plant Production & Protection division would participate in large numbers in the ISTA centenary celebrations as demonstration of FAO’s recognition of the importance of ISTA’s centenary milestone and its ongoing as well as continued collaboration with the ISTA on common area of interests towards hunger free world.
The meeting concluded with a reaffirmation of the commitment and robust partnerships between the ISTA and FAO to collaborate in addressing global challenges related to advancing seed quality, agricultural development and food security in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
List of delegates in the meeting;
- Qu Dongyu, Director General of FAO
- K. Keshavulu, ISTA President
- Chikelu Mba, Deputy Director, Plant Production and Protection division of FAO
- Kent Nnadozie, Secretary, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO
- Osama A. El-Lissy, Secretary, International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)
- Ruhiza Jean Boroto, Team Leader, Land and Water Division, FAO
- Andreas Waise, Secretary General of ISTA
- Jeffrey A. Brez, Senior Coordinator, Office of the DG of FAO
