Quality Seed | Quality Life
September 2024 Newsletter
Dear APSA members and partners,
This September, it’s all about innovation.
Recently, the APSA Executive Committee had its third meeting of the year, online, where we presented the first copy of our Strategic Roadmap for the next three years.
In it, we defined our priorities in the areas of regulatory and policy advocacy, members engagement, capacity building, facilitating business and trade, and also strengthening the Secretariat.
APSA has been active in advancing seed industry development in the region for the past three decades. But the world 30 years ago was very different from the world today. Our members’ needs are different, the business and regulatory environment is different, even our natural environment is different. So, the big question is, how does APSA work within this context and give the most value to our members and partners?
More than a nicely written piece of document with graphs and pictures and beautiful words, a strategic plan is a set of choices. It will require us to think in new ways, to shake things up, and stay innovative to ensure our continued relevance in the face of evolving challenges and opportunities.
Speaking of innovation, the two main highlights of APSA’s engagement this month was, first, a workshop held in Thailand to support the Department of Agriculture in implementing its gene editing policy, which the seed sector sees as very encouraging to plant breeders.
And towards the end of the month, we held the Asian Solanaceous and Cucurbits Roundtable (ASCRT). More than 160 plant breeders from 15 countries attended this scientific conference to listen to the latest breeding research and technological applications.
Again, this proves to me why we need to advocate for policies that are supportive of innovation: so that scientists can have the tools they need to do what they do best, to find solutions, and to help farmers cope with climate change and increasing nutritional and food demand from society.
I invite you to listen to the updates from the APSA team.
Ms. Francine Sayoc
APSA Executive Director
THANK YOU to our digital media sponsors
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2024 APSA Seed Technology Webinar – Session 4
APSA will be holding the 4th and last Session of the 2024 APSA Seed Technology Webinar Series, on Thursday the 31st of October. The main focus of this webinar will be Seed Packaging and will feature 2 guest speakers. Participation for this webinar is FREE for ALL ACTIVE APSA Members, but pre-registration is required. To view the webinar agenda, speaker profile & abstract and for registration, please visit the official event webpage at https://web.apsaseed.org/events/2024-apsa-seed-technology-webinar-session-4
2024 APSA Large Seed Vegetables & Brassicaceae Okra (LSVBO) Thank God It's Friday – Session 4
APSA will be holding the 4th and final Session of the 2024 APSA LSVBO TGIF Webinar on Friday the 22nd of November 2024. This webinar will focus on Brassica & Cabbage, and will feature 2 guest speakers. To view the webinar agenda, speaker profile & abstract and for registration, please visit the official event webpage at https://web.apsaseed.org/events/2024-apsa-lsvbo-tgif-webinar-session-4
2024 Asian Seed Congress
The 2024 Asian Seed Congress will be held at the Mangrove Tree Resort Convention Center in Sanya, Hainan, China from the 2nd to the 6th of December 2024, and is co-hosted by the China National Seed Trade Association (CNSTA) with support from Sanya City Government and Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City (YZBTSC).
We are happy and excited to announce that we currently have a total of 1,375 registered delegates, consisting of 489 voting reps, 841 delegates, 30 accompanying persons and 15 confirmed invited VIP guests and speakers.
We would also like to remind everyone that Congress Normal Registration Period has just ended, and we are now in the final Late Registration Period, with registration fees are now at 800 USD per person. Late Registration Period ends 31 October, so if you haven’t registered yet, do so immediately, because this is your last chance to attend.
And with only 2 months until the congress, we highly recommend everyone to hurry to secure their China visa. Especially for delegates coming from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as their visa application process can take some time.
And make sure to read up on all the various technical sessions we are having this year. Starting off with the Investment Opportunity in China session, a special APSA 30 Year Anniversary Forum, the InnoTech Showcase and most importantly, the 3 themed sessions on Our Business Landscape Today & Tomorrow; Accelerating & Safeguarding Innovation; and Moving Quality Seeds Across Borders.
For more information on how to register, congress agenda, official floor plan, China Visa & Import Policy, Technical Sessions and other congress related details, please visit the official event page at https://web.apsaseed.org/asc2024
Mike Kingapayom
APSA Event Manager
Standing Committees and Special Interest Groups
SC International Trade & Quarantines
The SC ITQ has finalized the program for the upcoming APSA ASC technical session in Sanya on the critical theme of "Moving Quality Seeds Across Borders," addressing the challenges and opportunities in international seed trade. They also look forward to the 4th quarter meeting to mutually brainstorming 2025 activities and advocacy policy.
Let us move to an update from Standing Committee on Seed Technology:
The working group of APSA Seed Technology webinar session 3 on seed storage, Dr Woosik Kang, Prof. Uma Rani Sinniah, Ms Patcharin Taridno and Mr Farhan Tahir had another successful webinar session of the 2024 APSA Seed Technology Webinar Session 3 held on September 20 on the theme of the Science of Seed Storage: Innovation & Insights.
It was an honor that the 2 well-known speakers have accepted the invitation, Dr. Fiona Hay, Senior Researcher, Department of Agroecology Crop Genetics & Biotechnology, Aarhus University, Denmark presented on the Storage technologies and practices for maintaining seed quality, while Mr Michel Devarrewaere, 2022 APSA Awardee of the most influential seed technologist in the APAC Seed Sector and Ex East-West Seed Vice President presented on the practical part on the topic of Designing and implementing effective seed storage systems. The Seed Technology webinar remains the most famous webinars in APSA as always.
SC IPR & Biodiversity
This month the committee had the 3rd quarter meeting to finalize the ASC Technical session topics related to the IP & biodiversity. They will spend more time in the 4th quarter meeting to discuss on the focus areas of the group as well as activities in 2025.
Next is an update from SIG Field Crops:
The SIG Field Crops committee are looking forward to the 4th quarter meeting next month to plan for the 2025 activities. The plan will be submitted and discussed further in APSA EC meeting in November.
Moving to the Special Interest Group on Vegetables and Ornamentals and the Working Group of Integrated Vegetable Seed Companies or WIC had the 3rd quarter committee meeting this month to update on subgroup activities. The SIG V&O committee agreed that there will be no study tour for SIG V&O this year. And will carefully plan for 2025 activities in the 4th quarter meeting.
Besides, they also discussed to finalize speakers for ASC Technical sessions and prepare for WIC December meeting. Stay tuned.
The R&D Advisory Group
This month ASPA Secretariat and the R&D AG group was very happy with 2 successful activities this month, one is a physical event and another one is an online event.
First was the physical APSA Asian Solanaceous & Cucurbits Round Table (ASCRT) held on September 24 – 26, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand was a great success, with 164 delegates from 59 companies and organizations located in 15 countries/regions; Bangladesh, China, Chinese Taipei, Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, the Netherlands and USA. Bringing 28 experts from 16 leading organizations/companies in breeding technology, production technology and seed technology from private enterprises, public institutes and training institutes in solanaceae and cucurbitaceae crops. The event consisted of 2.5 days lectures and half day site visit at the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) of Thailand. APSA would like to thank the sponsors who made this event possible.
Gold Sponsor: East West Seed International Limited and Syngenta India Private Limited
Silver Sponsor: Nunhems India
Bronze Bayer Science and Innovation Private Limited
Venue sponsor: Chia Tai
A day after the event, the R&D AG members were very active to attend the the 2024 APSA Large Seed Vegetables & Brassicaceae Okra (LSVBO) Thank God It's Friday webinar – Session 3 on cauliflower held on September 27, 2024. It was an interactive webinar with 2 prominent speakers, Dr Shyam Sundar Dey, Senior Scientist, Division of Vegetable Science, ICAR – Indian Agricultural Research Institute who presented on the Innovative modern breeding tools to facilitate hybrid seed production in cauliflower and Dr. Anangpal Singh, Germplasm developed lead, Cauliflower & Okra, Syngenta who presented on the topic of “Innovation in Cauliflowers”.
Hope everyone has a good time this month!
The Disease Resistance Terminology Working Group or DRT,
This month the DRT watermelon fusarium wilt subgroup has exported watermelon seeds to members out of Thailand. The good news is some companies have already received the seeds! Finger crossed for the smooth process for the bitter gourd powdery mildew subgroup too!
The Standing Committee on Plant Breeding Innovation
The chair of the APSA SC PBI joined the workshop on Plant Breeding Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture and Agroeconomic Development jointly held by APSA, DOA and ThaSTA in Bangkok from September 3-4. Mr. Michael Leader shared some examples of genome editing products such as the short stature corn to explain the benefits of the new technology. He emphasized the lower cost compared to GM, which can be afforded and used by local public institutions and small research organizations. He also called for a harmonized global genome editing policy
APSA-WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding Consortium
The 2-year project entitled “Advanced multi-disease resistant tomato lines as a key element for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control whitefly and tomato leaf miner” is now open for registration under the 2024 APSA-WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding Consortium and will be closed by end of September. Please hurry up to register if you are interested in the project. For more details, pls click the link HERE.
A special project entitled “Developing new markets with better okra genetics: WorldVeg begomovirus resistant lines with improved horticultural traits to breed breakthrough F1 hybrids” is launched under the 2025 APSA-WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding Consortium, the project duration will be from Feb 1st, 2025, to Jan 31st, 2027. Registration will be closed by the end of October. Currently 15 members registered after we announced it last week. Please hurry up to register from the LINK HERE to get a seat.
This is all for now for the short SC/SIG updates. Thank you very much and stay tuned for more updates next month.
Kunaporn Phuntunil
APSA Technical Coordination Manager
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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) or Mike (mike@apsaseed.org)
Asian Seed magazine Vol. 30 No.3 (Quarter 3, July - September 2024)
In this Q3 issue of Volume 30, we pay tribute to APSA’s late founder and visionary, Mogens Lemonius, who passed away in June. We republish a first-person account from Mogens, originally featured in 2017, where he reflects on his journey to Bangkok and the pivotal role he played in bringing together the right people to form what is now the largest regional seed association in the world.
Additionally, we include a heartfelt tribute from his close friend and long-time APSA ally, Michael Turner. This edition also covers key events organized by APSA over the past few months, including the Asian Solanaceous and Cucurbits Round Table, the regional MUSP Workshop in Hanoi, a gene-editing workshop in Thailand, and the EAPVP annual forum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Quarterly updates from APSA’s President, Executive Director, and technical committees are featured, alongside international seed industry insights from Seed World. Furthermore, we present a Q&A with the CEO of a leading Korean seed company, offering his perspectives on the challenges and solutions for national and regional food and seed security.
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