Myanmar signs the Seed Sharing Protocol Agreement

Last 10 October 2017, Myanmar became the latest country to sign the Seed Sharing Protocol Agreement. The nation joins Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in this multilateral initiative that allows signatories to rapidly distribute modern rice varieties across their borders. This will enable farmers in different countries to gain fast access to new, climate-resilient seed varieties, reducing the average amount of processing time and transit from 7-8 years, to 2-3 years. As an effect, farmers will have a more secure food supply and a better profit margin.

Signed during the IRRI Board of Trustees meeting in Myanmar, the agreement allows faster deployment of and access to improved rice varieties across countries by establishing common parameters for varietal release. In its first 3 years of implementation, the seed sharing protocol enabled eight rice varieties to be released and shared across three countries.

Shobhana K. Pattanayak, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmer’s Welfare in New Delhi, India, believes that having more nations join the seed sharing agreement is a good demonstration of regional cooperation that other parts of the world can emulate. Dr. Matthew Morell, IRRI’s Director General, added that IRRI remains committed to working with country partners to usher in economic and social growth as well as regional and global food security.