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Field Updates

How strategic partnerships are increasing smallholder access to seeds

November 14, 2017
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ICRISAT demonstrates a fertile collaboration between seed companies and public institutions.

On October 23, the Access to Seeds team met with the crop improvement team at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)* in Patancheru, India.

The institute provides access to improved varieties of sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, groundnut, chickpea and pigeon pea by developing parent lines that seed companies adopt for further breeding.

Seed companies pay an annual subscription-based membership fee to participate in ICRISAT’s consortium, allowing them to select from an annual number of parent lines to develop into hybrids.

Funding its research in part through the membership fee, ICRISAT only collects royalties on its parent lines. Public-private cooperation is important partly due to the high production costs. Through such collaboration, improved varieties reach smallholder farmers at a faster rate. For instance, 30 companies are currently working with ICRISAT to provide access to pearl millet seed. What had previously been stored in gene banks is now being used for the benefit of all.

*One of 15 members within CGIAR’s global network of agricultural research centers.

 

Start of the visit. Left, A Ashok Kumar, Principal Scientist in Sorghum Breeding; center, Coosje Hoogendoorn, Access to Seeds Index Senior Lead Researcher; right, Dr. Sobhan B Sajja, Scientist (Finger Millet Breeding)
Dr. Sobhan B Sajja and Coosje Hoogendoorn inspect a finger millet trial
ICRISAT develops millets that are nutritious and disease resistant
Display of sorghum diversity
ICRISAT's genebank houses over 125,000 accessions from around the globe
Mr. Sastry Dvssr shows the type of packaging used to catalogue genebank accessions

Bridging the gap between the world’s leading seed companies and the smallholder farmer

The development of the Access to Seeds Index is supported by:


The Access to Seeds Foundation is an ally of the
World Benchmarking Alliance.

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