May 2025 Newsletter
This month, APSA welcomed Ms. Spun Ngoensritong to the Secretariat as the newest member of our Communications team. We’re excited to have her expertise and creativity onboard as she will play a pivotal role in amplifying APSA’s digital storytelling, campaign strategies, media outreach, and event visibility under the guidance of Executive Director Ms. Francine Sayoc.
As the month progresses, APSA has been actively engaging in global conversations on critical topics impacting the seed industry. Executive Director Francine Sayoc has represented APSA in prominent forums, tackling discussions on climate strategy, collaboration, and industry advancements. This included participation in closed meetings such as the ISF Coordination Group on Environment and Social Responsibility, focused on the seed sector’s alignment with climate goals as preparations for COP 30 gain momentum. Additionally, APSA joined stakeholders at the World Seed Congress to address regulatory and technical priorities that will shape the future of the industry.
Stay connected as APSA continues to contribute to meaningful discussions and initiatives, ensuring its leadership in the seed sector.
Secretariat team
THANK YOU to our digital media sponsors
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2025 ASPA WIC Meeting
The APSA Working Group of Integrated Vegetable Seed Companies (WIC) operates under our Special Interest Group on Vegetables & Ornamentals. The WIC is represented by the CEOs or senior managers of the vegetable companies that are actively involved in R&D, breeding and production of high-quality seed. It serves as a platform to address key issues relevant to integrated seed companies in the region, and collaborates with government agencies, international associations, and local seed organizations to find practical solutions.
The WIC 2025 Midterm Meeting will take place on June 2-3, 2025, at the Sheraton Grande Jakarta Gandaria City Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia. Aside from the meeting among members, WIC is planning a visit to local government offices to exchange views and strengthen collaboration for seed industry.
2025 APSA Seed Association Meeting
APSA is organizing its annual meeting of its member Seed Associations on June 4 -5, 2025, at the Sheraton Grande Jakarta Gandaria City Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2024, there were 24 seed associations that were active members of APSA. As seed associations themselves represent hundreds of seed companies in different countries and territories, APSA views seed associations as important partners in our work, especially in advocacy and trust-building with the public sector, achieving a harmonized regulatory environment within the region, and providing opportunities for knowledge exchange.
This year, we continue our efforts to engage in dialogue with seed associations in the Asia and Pacific region. The APSA Seed Associations Meeting aims to update participants on APSA’s 3-year Strategic Roadmap, explore opportunities to strengthen regional collaboration, policy advocacy, and knowledge exchange, encourage seed associations to engage more APSA members, and share best practices in the management and operations of seed associations and collaboration with like-minded organizations.
2025 APSA Breed Better TGIF Webinar - Session 2
APSA will be holding Session 2 of the 2025 APSA Breed Better TGIF Webinar on 27 June 2025. The focus of this session will be on Biotic Stress Resistance. As we are currently finalizing webinar speakers and their presentation topic, please stay tuned for more updates. For more information, please visit the official event page at https://web.apsaseed.org/events/2025-apsa-breed-better-tgif-webinar-session-2
2025 Asian Seed Congress
The 2025 Asian Seed Congress will be held at the JIO World Convention Center (JWCC) in Mumbai, India from the 17th to the 21st of November 2025, and will be co-hosted by the National Seed Association of India (NSAI) and the Federation of Seed Industries of India (FSII). This year’s congress theme is “Sowing Prosperity Through Quality Seed” and will feature exciting Technical Sessions.
Register Now to benefit from the Early-Bird discounted rate of 750 USD. Early-Bird Registration period will close 30 June 2025. Regular Registration will cost 800 USD and Late Registration will cost 850 USD.
Also available at this year’s congress will be 210 trading tables, 15 semi-private meeting rooms, 5 private meeting rooms and 32 regular exhibition booths and 6 super booths.
We recommend all APSA Members to register early since acquiring a conference visa to enter India may take a couple of months for some countries.
For more information on congress agenda, rate sheet, official floor plan, India Visa & Import Policy, how to register and other congress related details, please visit the official event page at https://web.apsaseed.org/asc2025
Other Seed Related Events
The 27th International Pepper Conference, hosted by the World Vegetable Center, will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from the 19th to the 22nd of January 2026. This premier event brings together global experts, researchers, industry leaders, and pepper enthusiasts to share the latest innovations and insights in pepper breeding, production, and research. For those who are interested in attending, registration is now open. Early-Bird Registration will close on 12 September 2025.
We also invite companies and organizations to support this international gathering as official sponsors. Sponsorship packages offer excellent visibility before, during, and after the event, with benefits including exhibition space, logo placements, and complimentary registrations.
Whether you're a researcher, part of the pepper industry, or a pepper enthusiast, this is your chance to connect and learn about peppers on a global scale.
For more information, please visit https://worldvegetablecenter.org/pepper-conference/
Standing Committees and Special Interest Groups
First, we want you to hurry up! The nominations for the new APSA Special Interest Group for Seed Production is open until June 5th. Click here for more info and contact Ms Kuna, our Knowledge and Research Programs Manager if you have any question.
SC International Trade & Quarantines
After holding the successful APSA 2025 Regional Phytosanitary Expert Consultation in Quarter 1, the APSA Standing Committee on International Trade and Quarantine has started working on the topics of the technical sessions of the upcoming Asian Seed Congress. This year seed movement will still be one of the important topics in the ASC2025 technical sessions.
SC IPR & Biodiversity
The Standing Committee for IPR & Biodiversity (SC IPR&BIO) completed the 1st draft of the PVP fact sheet for 18 countries/regions. These drafts are sent to Seed Associations to review with the PVP office in the country/region. Once all the fact sheets are reviewed, we will share them with the members. The committee is preparing for one of the flagship events, the APSA 2025 Regional PVP&Biodiversity Consultation, which will be held on Tokyo, Japan on August 26-28. The committee also work on the topics of the technical sessions of the upcoming Asian Seed Congress
The Standing Committee on Plant Breeding Innovation
The Standing Committee on Plant Breeding Innovation is preparing for one of the APSA flagship events the “APSA Regional PBI Consultation 2025” which will be held on July 8-9 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Consultation provides a platform for public and private partners to discuss PBI related topics. More than 40 participants from both the government and seed industry have confirmed to participate in the consultation.
Let us move to an update from Standing Committee on Seed Technology:
A big thank you to our APSA Seed Technology Committee members for making Seed Tech Webinar Session 2: Sustainable Seed Enhancement on May 22nd a success:
Tomoko Sakata
Prof. Uma Rani Sinniah
MD Azizul Hoque
We are also grateful to our brilliant speakers who brought the session to life with their insights:
Prof. Helena Freitas – Centre for Functional Ecology—Science for People & The Planet, University of Coimbra
Barry Hoff & Carola Peters – Lead Research Scientist, Incotec
This webinar is part of the S.E.E.D.S. SYMPOSIUM 2025, a 3-day hybrid event happening May 21–23 in conjunction with the three day expo and to strengthen the Malaysia's seed sector under the scope of "Seed Asia". The symposium was hosted by the National Seed Association of Malaysia (NSAM) together with the Department of Agriculture of Malaysia (DOA), the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and the Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). So this webinar got a lot of interest from both physical and online participants.
Besides, thumps up to another great presentation in the symposium to Ms Kuna who presented on the topic ‘The Asia-Pacific Seed Industry and APSA: Driving Harmonization and Regional Collaboration’ and our Seed Tech committee, Dr Tomoko Sakata who presented topic ‘Seed Coating: Principles, Processes and Payoffs for Enhanced Crop Performance’ in the hybrid S.E.E.D.S. SYMPOSIUM!
This month, the SIG Field Crops and the Special Interest Group on Vegetables and Ornamentals did not hold any formal committee meetings. However, both groups remain actively engaged, keeping one another updated on ongoing action points and preparations for upcoming activities through regular communication. Stay tuned for more developments in the coming months as these groups continue to collaborate behind the scenes.
The Working Group of Integrated Vegetable Seed Companies or WIC
May has been an exceptionally busy month for the WIC, as members worked diligently to finalize preparations for the upcoming WIC Midterm Meeting on June 2, followed by the meeting with government officials on June 3. Throughout the month, members actively exchanged updates on key discussion topics and explored potential areas for strengthened public-private collaboration. We look forward to two exciting and productive meetings in early June—stay tuned!
The Disease Resistance Terminology Working Group (DRT):
The DRT Watermelon Fusarium Wilt subgroup continues to make progress, with two active members working diligently to finalize the ring test results. Meanwhile, the DRT Bitter Gourd Powdery Mildew subgroup has decided to seek an alternative source of bitter gourd seeds outside of India to move the work forward. Fingers crossed—we wish them the best of luck in their search and ongoing efforts!
For the R&D Advisory Group,
May is another engagement month for the R&D AG members to send some of their colleagues to Tainan to join the APSA-World Vegetable Center Annual Workshop on May 6-8, 2025. The committee were also working to finalize the speakers for the for the 2nd Session of the APSA BreedBetter Webinar Series on Biotic Stress Resistance. The registration will open early next month, stay tune!
APSA-WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding Consortium
This month highlights the special event of APSA-WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding Consortium annual workshop from May 6-8 in WorldVeg Headquarter in Tainan. Ms Kuna, APSA Knowledge and Research Programs Manager joined the workshop as a representative from APSA.
It has been 9th year since launching in 2017, this Consortium workshop has grown in both size and impact. We now have 58 Consortium members, up from 19 in the first year. Today, we welcome 79 external participants, representing 42 companies from 13 countries.
We also like to acknowledge the six participants who traveled to Bangkok last week just to apply for their Taiwan visas. Your effort to be here is deeply appreciated.
The workshop went very well starting from the first day of presenting impact generated by consortium members, vegetable breeding updates eg pepper, cucurbit and okra, and the ideas for special project fundings. The 2nd day highlighted the demonstration trials of consortium exclusive lines for tomato, pepper and loofah, gene bank tour One-on-One meetings with WorldVeg breeders/pathologists and visiting vegetable exhibition booths hosted by Taiwan Seed Trade Association.
The last day highlighted the post workshop tour at Yu-Chia Vegetable Nursery, Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station and Lumi Farm.
The 2025 APSA WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding Consortium is now open for registration. Join the APSA-WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding Consortium to gain exposure to the latest research and connect with international breeders and scientists. Click here for more information.
This is all for now for the short SC/SIG updates. Thank you very much and stay tuned for more updates next month.
The following country seed industry news pages have been updated with recent news briefs. To read full briefs, click the respective flag below, which links to the respective national seed industry news landing pages, where you can find all recent news briefs from that country:
US Tariff Pressure May Impact Agricultural Policy. Bangladesh is facing a potential 37% US tariff on exports under President Trump’s “reciprocal tariff” policy ... Read
US-China Tariff Pause May Shift Regional Ag Trade Dynamics. The US and China have agreed to temporarily lower tariffs on each other's goods ... Read
India Pushes to Shield Agriculture in US Trade Talks. India’s highly protected agricultural sector has become the focal point of its trade negotiations ... Read
Indonesia Eyes Agri Concessions to Ease US Trade Tensions. Indonesia is preparing a national response to a 46% US tariff, including a proposal to increase imports ... Read
Japan Resists US Pressure to Expand Rice Imports. A proposed deal to expand imports of US-grown rice has triggered pushback from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ... Read
Malaysia Eyes Agri R&D and Seed Innovation to Counter Trade War Risks: Malaysian academics are urging the government to redirect fuel subsidy savings toward modern agriculture and research to strengthen food security amid ongoing global trade tensions ... Read
NZ Agribusiness Eyes Asia Amid Tariff Uncertainty. New Zealand’s agricultural sector must diversify beyond traditional markets amid growing trade and tariff uncertainty, according to KPMG’s latest Agribusiness Agenda ... Read
Pakistan Proposes Zero-Tariff Trade Deal with US. Pakistan has proposed a zero-tariff bilateral trade agreement with the United States in a bid to strengthen economic ties following a US-brokered ceasefire with India ... Read
The Philippines is pushing to turn a new 17% US reciprocal tariff into an opportunity to negotiate a broader trade agreement ... Read
Thailand’s US Trade Proposal Wins Praise: Thailand’s five-point trade proposal to reduce its surplus with the US by 50% ... Read
Vietnam Pushes for Trade Deal to Avert 46% US Tariff. Vietnam has entered a second round of trade talks with the US in Washington ... Read
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As part of APSA’s sustained digitalization and digitization efforts, in 2023 we’re offering active members even more ways to directly reach Asia-Pacific seed industry decision-makers in their inbox, on their desktop PCs, laptops, smartphone, tablets, and phablets alike, through our exciting new affiliate, sponsorship, marketing, communication, advertising and publicity opportunities.
We are pleased to announce our 2023 Digital Media Sponsorship Rates and Media Kit:
Don’t hesitate, INQUIRE NOW!
Email: (komsak@apsaseed.org)
Asian Seed magazine Vol. 31 No.1 (Quarter 1, 2025)
In this Q1 issue of Asian Seed & Planting Material, we open with the first quarterly address from APSA's incoming President, Mr. Teck Wah Koh, who shares key governance and strategy updates. This is complemented by a letter from the Executive Director’s desk, where Francine Sayoc provides timely updates from the Secretariat.
The issue is packed with regional news, including Seed & Grain New Zealand’s rebranding, a leadership change at the Philippine Seed Industry Association, and key takeaways from the Indian Seed Congress and the National Seed Forum in Hainan, China. We also summarize highlights from the 2024 Asian Seed Congress and insights from the recent Phytosanitary Expert Consultation in Bangkok, which underscored progress in cross-border seed movement collaboration.
Readers can also get to know APSA’s Board and new members of APSA technical committees, along with a special feature on women in the Asia-Pacific seed industry, celebrating their wisdom and achievements. Rounding out the issue, we present the latest USDA data on planting and harvesting prospects for key food crops—maize, wheat, and rice—alongside fresh insights into vegetable seed trade trends across Asia and Oceania.
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