22-23 November, Thimphu: The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) successfully organized a two days’ workshop on “Seeds Without Borders”.
The opening ceremony was graced by His Excellency Lyonpo Yeshey Penjor, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF); Hon’ble Secretary, Dasho Thinley Namgyel, MoAF; Hon’ble Director General Jean Balie´, IRRI. During the inaugural speech, Hon’ble Minister stated that Bhutan was honored to be part of the Seeds Without Borders as the agreement is instrumental in implementing the country’s programs to achieve food and nutritional security. Hon’ble Minster also highlighted that it will also help Bhutan’s food system to become self-reliant, productive, diverse, resilient, and sustainable.
Similarly, IRRI Director General Jean Balie´ stated “IRRI has been serving as a broker for this regional seed sharing agreement for almost a decade and we’ve seen how efficient and effective seed sharing policies across countries play an important part in transforming their agri-food systems. Gaining access to a diverse selection of genetic resources, improved and climate-smart crop varieties enables the nations to address the challenges in their agri-food systems better.”
During the workshop, nine countries from Asia and the Pacific signed an agreement to strengthen the regions seed sector. Seeds Without Borders is a regional seed policy agreement that speeds up the distribution of modern rice varieties across countries in Asia, particularly in South and Southeast Asia.
The workshop discussed on how each country could work together with IRRI, who serves as the convenor of the agreement. The latest agreement also intends to add roots, tuber crops, and fruit crops to the current ones covered by the agreement such as rice and other cereals, pulses, oil seeds, vegetables, sugarcane and fiber crops.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the Thimphu Protocols of Discussion commenced today on 23rd November 2022. Three new signatory countries – Fiji, Philippines, and Vietnam joined the Thimphu Agreement 2022 along with existing signatory countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
The agreement will help improve the process of implementation of the previous agreements under Seeds Without Borders, signed in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2013) and Kathmandu, Nepal (2014), and Siem Reap, Cambodia (2017).
Also present in the workshop were donors such as the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, the World Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Syngenta Foundation, Asian Development Bank, ADBI and the SAARC Development Fund.
-Submitted by PPD
