2025 APSA Seed Technology Webinar - Session 1 21 February 2025 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm (GMT+7)

Hosted by APSA Standing Committee on Seed Technology, the webinar series on Seed Technology is organized exclusively for APSA members only. This year is the fifth year APSA will be holding this webinar series, and will focus on such topics as The Use of AI in the Seed Indutry, Susatinable Seed Enhancement, Seed Diagnostic Technologies & more.

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2025 APSA Seed Technology Webinar - Session 1
21 February 2025 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm (GMT+7)

The Use of AI in the Seed Industry

TIME (GMT+7)

AGENDA

14.00 – 14.10

Opening of the Webinar
Farhan Tahir, Member, APSA Standing Committee for Seed Technology  

Moderator: Sandeep Jadli, Chair, APSA Standing Committee for Seed Technology 

14.10 – 14.40

The AI powered Seed Industry: A dream to evolve Breeding, Quality, and Supply Chains for a Sustainable Future
Arnab Gupta, Seed Systems Advisor and Data Steward, Wageningen University & Research 

14.40 – 14.55

Q&A session 

14.55 – 15.15

AI-Powered Transformation: The Future of Seed Production in a Climate-Impacted World
Abishek Keerthi Narayan, Vice President, Solutions and Platform, Cropin

15.15 – 15.35

Practical AI Solutions for Seed Quality
Sarel Ashkenazy,
CEO, Seed-X 

15.35 – 15.55

Q&A session 

15.55 – 16.00

Wrap up and closing remarks
Ashley Fraser, Member, APSA Standing Committee for Seed Technology  

Speaker Profile & Abstract

Arnab Gupta
Seed Systems Advisor and Data Steward
Wageningen University & Research

Profile
A seed systems specialist, working with the Wageningen University and Research, with over a decade of experience, Arnab focuses on strengthening agriculture for smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa. His work spans seed sector transformation, policy design, and market development, prioritizing resilience, and inclusivity for farming communities. Arnab bridges traditional expertise with emerging tech, integrating AI and digital tools to solve tangible challenges. He designs predictive models to optimize seed quality, streamlines supply chains with traceability platforms, and creates decision-support systems that balance efficiency with sustainability, reducing information asymmetry. His approach enhances—not replaces—human insight, helping agribusinesses adapt to climate shifts and empowering smallholder farmers with accessible, data-driven solutions. Collaboration fuels his work. Partnering with governments, civil societies, and researchers, he addresses systemic gaps in seed access and equity across Asia and Africa. For Arnab, success means technology that serves people—simplifying compliance, reducing waste, and ensuring farmers everywhere can harness quality seeds.

Abstract
The AI powered Seed Industry: A dream to evolve Breeding, Quality, and Supply Chains for a Sustainable Future

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a futuristic concept—it’s already reshaping the seed industry, from breeding and trait discovery to supply chain management and farmer support. In this talk, we’ll explore how AI-driven innovations, such as predictive breeding, automated seed quality assessment, precision agriculture, and many more, are making seed systems more efficient, resilient, and sustainable. We’ll dive into real-world examples of AI-powered trait research, vision-based quality control, end-to-end agritech solutions, to name a few.

But this isn’t just about what exists today—we’ll also look ahead to what we can build in the future. How can AI help design climate-resilient crops at scale? Can AI help to create new varietal traits tailored to microclimates? What role will AI play in making seed systems more inclusive for smallholder farmers? We will weave a clearer vision of how AI can drive the next wave of innovation in seed research, production, and distribution.

Abishek Keerthi Narayan
Vice President
Solutions and Platform, Cropin

Profile
Abishek is the Vice President of Solutions & Platforms at Cropin, the world’s most advanced AI platform for food & agriculture. Abishek brings nearly two decades of experience in customer success, management consulting, and technology development & enablement. At Cropin, Abishek is responsible for customer success and solution consulting for customers across global markets. In an evolving agri-food tech landscape, he focuses on helping agribusinesses define the digital transformation strategy and data-led agriculture to achieve business objectives. Before Cropin, he worked across various roles in organizations such as Metis ERC, SICI, Xerox, and Morphosis Inc. He has completed his Master's in Business Administration from HEC Montreal and holds a bachelor's degree in telecommunications engineering from Vemana Institute of Technology (VIT). He is Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certified. Passionate about solving customer problems, creating value, and driving success, Abishek enjoys reading, listening to classical music and art forms, cooking, and working on innovation projects with his son during his leisure time.

Sarel Ashkenazy|
CEO
Seed-X

Profile
Sarel Ashkenazi is an experienced entrepreneur with over 25 years of proven business leadership, and a background in sales, operations and management. Prior to founding Seed-X, Sarel served as EVP Business at Kornit Digital Ltd (NASDAQ: KRNT), where he spearheaded business development increasing the company’s sales from $0 to over $100M. In 2017, Sarel founded Seed-X Technologies, introducing AI and computer vision technologies to the Seed and Grain market. Sarel’s business and management experience underpin his vision of transforming traditional, conservative industries for success in the digital age. 

Event Zone & Time

Countries/Territories Time Zones Event Time
Iowa, USA UTC -05:00 01:00 – 03:00
Israel, Lebanon,  UTC +02:00 09:00 - 11:00
Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, Turkey UTC +03:00 10:00 - 12:00
Iran UTC +03:30 10:30 – 12:30
Pakistan UTC +05:00 12:00 - 14:00
India, Sri Lanka UTC +05:30 12:30 – 14:30
Nepal UTC +05:45 12:45 – 14:45
Bangladesh, Krygyztan UTC +06:00 13:00 - 15:00
Myanmar UTC +06:30 13:30 - 15:30
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam UTC +07:00 14:00 - 16:00
China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong-China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore UTC +08:00 15:00 - 17:00
Japan, South Korea UTC +09:00 16:00 - 18:00
Australia (Canberra) UTC +11:00 18:00 - 20:00
New Zealand (Wellington) UTC +13:00 20:00 - 22:00