Official Newsletter of the WANA Seed Network
No. 34, January 2008
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News, views, comments, and suggestions on varieties and seeds are included in this section. It is a forum for discussion among seed sector professionals.
New Crops for New Markets in Horticulture
In the Netherlands, greenhouse technology and improved crop production techniques are driving new developments and ever improving quality. This makes horticultural production very efficient, with extremely high yields and high quality products. Producers control growth conditions in the greenhouse to optimize for every parameter including varying electricity and fuel costs, which are calculated with computer models. Robots are now doing much of the work in greenhouses. The use of crop protection chemicals is minimal due to use of resistant varieties, high levels of hygiene, and integrated pest management strategies.
Despite all the good news for horticulture production in the Netherlands, growers are looking very hard for further improvements, better profits, and economically more secure markets. Competition with many similar products from other countries is high, mainly because of very expensive labor and land. The climatic conditions are also not always ideal for different crops; heating and lighting are needed to produce all year round.
New crops for new markets
Horticulture growers wish to produce new, higher-value crops for new (or existing) markets. These new crops may be functional foods targeted to specific groups - for example a fruit or vegetable specifically for people with obesity problems. They may also be crops grown for production of specific chemical compounds for food ingredients or substrates for the chemical or pharmaceutical industry. To further increase the added value of horticultural crops in the Netherlands there is an interest in improving the properties of existing crops by introducing new features for specific markets. Traditional knowledge that is archived in extended Asian databases (like TCM, Prosea, Ayurveda) provides an excellent base for selecting alternative crops.
Value addition
Fytagoras is a research company involved in initiatives for the creation of new crops for new markets in the Netherlands. A wide range of research tools and approaches are necessary for selection, functional testing, optimal growing and many other aspects. This can be illustrated in a project supported by the Dutch government in cooperation with growers, Leiden University and Indonesian institutes. The aim of the project is to produce a new crop that helps to reduce obesity, which is a common problem today. The approach is to test different crops that may be suitable, based on knowledge of traditional use, growing properties, taste properties, etc in specific molecular and cellular assays that predict a specific action in satiety sensation and fat degradation in humans. The plants are tested for binding to specific human receptors in cells. The potential of fat degradation is measured in cells that are subjected to the compounds present in different plants. From these tests only a few candidate crops remain. From these crops a total chemical profile is made. This profile is matched to the action in the bio-assays for obesity. These can be linked to specific chemical compounds and compound profiles to the obesity reducing effects. Once this stage is reached the crop is actively breed for optimizing the chemical profile of the plant to be sold as a product that helps to fight obesity. In addition, the fully controlled environment in the greenhouse allow for designing conditions to specifically enhance the necessary chemical profile of the new crop. Finally, with good market promotion, growers can produce a crop with much higher added value.
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Diagrammatic illustration of the effect of specific
plant extract on breakdown of fat (light spheres in the cells) in
fat cells
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In addition to obesity, we also aimed at crops that modulate the immune system (increased resistance against diseases); crops that affect diabetes; and crops that can be used for the extraction of valuable chemical compounds for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. One of the examples we are working on is the production of very high levels of compounds like vindoline and catherantine (both precursor molecules for anti-tumor drugs) from Catharanthus roseus in greenhouses in the Netherlands.
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Production of Catharanthus roseus for the pharmaceutical
industry
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Production of such crops requires strictly controlled conditions. Therefore, Fytagoras aims to develop and apply the newest sensor technology for climate control and non-invasive monitoring of bioactive compounds.
Bert van Duijn and Henrie Korthout, Fytagoras BV, Plant Science, Zernikedreef 9, P.O. Box 2215, 2301 CE Leiden, The Netherlands. E-mail: bert.vanduijn@ fytagoras.nl; http://www.fytagoras.nl
Iowa State University Offers Postgraduate Degree in Seed Technology and Business
In a recent Asia Pacific Seed Association (APSA) Congress in Manila, the Philippines, Prof. Murray Hill from Lincoln University, New Zealand, reviewed the gloomy picture for training tomorrow's seed technologists. With donor support for national seed programs dwindling, and a more privatized seed industry emerging, public sector funding for training in seed science and technology is becoming a thing of the yester years.
However, there is a glimmer of hope for tomorrow's seed technologists. Iowa State University began a new graduate program offering a master's degree in seed technology and business. The interdisciplinary degree is a cooperative effort between the colleges of Business and Agriculture and Life Sciences. It combines business courses similar to those in the first year of an MBA program with classes on scientific and technical subjects in seed and crop improvement. The program, integrating technical and business subjects into a single graduate program for seed, is unique.
The program has attracted 23 students from the USA and four other continents, and from a variety of seed organizations. The students are attracted to the program partly because courses are offered through the internet and paced so that they can continue to work at their regular jobs. Employers have sponsored many of the students.
Students participating in the master's program are required to complete 36 credits of coursework, including three credits for the creative component. Two graduate certificates, one in seed science and technology and one in seed business management are being offered as part of the program. For more information contact: Paul Christensen, Program Manager at e-mail: intlcorn@iastate.edu; Website: www.seeds.iastate.edu/class/.
Turkey Accedes to UPOV Convention
Turkey became the sixty-sixth member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) on 18 November 2007. This brings the number of UPOV member countries from Central and West Asia and North Africa region to seven including Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Tunisia and Uzbekistan. The UPOV Convention aims to encourage the development of new varieties of plants by granting breeders an intellectual property right based on a set of clearly defined principles. To be eligible for protection, varieties need to satisfy certain conditions, such as being distinct from existing, commonly known varieties and sufficiently uniform and stable.
UPOV is an intergovernmental organization based in Geneva. For further information please contact: UPOV Secretariat, Tel: +41-22-3389155; Fax: +41-22-7330336; E-mail: upov.mail@upov.int; website: www.upov.int.
Marcel Bruins Named Secretary General of International Seed Federation
In 2007, Marcel Bruins will succeed Bernard Le Buanec as the new Secretary General of the International Seed Federation. He assumed office on 1 January 2008. Dr Bruins completed his studies in plant breeding and plant pathology at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands in 1989. He was awarded a PhD in 1998, studying Fusarium resistance in wheat at Plant Research International, the Netherlands.
After graduation, he was responsible for the patent portfolio of a large research institute and then worked in Rotterdam at the Innovation Center for Inventions, where he was active in the commercial aspects of agricultural and biotechnology inventions. In 1998, he joined the breeding company Seminis Vegetable Seeds, where he was a manager for plant variety protection but also worked on intellectual property, like patents and trademarks.
He is a member and former chair of several international committees in the Dutch Seed Association, European Seed Association and International Seed Federation.
Crop Variety Releases in 2007
ICARDA provides 'International Nurseries' based on targeted request from NARS partners and the private sector. The breeding lines undergo extensive field-testing and evaluation before final release for commercialization through the national variety release system (see table).
Canada
A kabuli chickpea line (FLIP 97-133C) was released in Canada as 'CDC Luna.' The variety has tolerance to cold and is moderately tolerant to Ascochyta blight disease. The Crop Development Center (CDC) of the University of Saskatchewan released the variety after conducting field trials, which were highly successful.
Source: The Week at ICARDA, No 990/991, October 2007.
Kazakhstan
The State Variety Testing Commission (SVTC) of Kazakhstan has released one variety each of winter facultative wheat and barley after several years of testing. Barley is the second most important crop after wheat in Kazakhstan although the area declined from 7 million ha during the former Soviet Union to about 1.75 million ha in recent years.
Source: CAC News, October December 2007.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan released two bread wheat varieties for commercial seed production and marketing after extensive testing by the State Variety Testing Commission. The two varieties, Alex and Norman, have shown good results in terms of yield and tolerance to stresses during variety evaluation and testing.
Source: CAC News, January-March 2007.
Uzbekistan
The State Varietal Testing Commission (SVTC) has released two chickpea varieties, Zumrad (FLIP-98-210C) and Djahangir (FLIP-88-85C) and two lentil varieties, Oltin Don (ILL-7513) and Dormon (FLIP-97-4L). In three years of evaluation, these varieties have consistently out yielded the local checks by 18-25%. They also have better disease resistance and larger, cream-colored seeds which fetch higher prices.
Source: The Week at ICARDA, No 1001, 18 December 2007.
| Variety releases from ICARDA supplied germplasm in 2007 | ||
|
Crop
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Country
|
Variety |
|
Winter facultative wheat
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Kazakhstan
|
Egemen |
|
Tajikistan
|
Alex, Norman | |
| Spring bread wheat |
Syria
|
Bouhoth 8, Joulau 2 |
| Barley |
Kazakhstan
|
Zhibek
Zohly (IBCB-WT-99) |
| Chickpea |
Canada
|
CDC Luna |
|
Uzbekistan
|
Zumrad (FLIP-98-210C), Djahangir (FLIP-99-85C) | |
| Lentil |
Syria
|
Ibla 1 |
|
Uzbekistan
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Oltin Don (ILL-7513), Dormon (FLIP-97-4L) | |
| Source: ICARDA, 2007 | ||