Breeding Challenges and Opportunities for an Emerging Commercial Vegetable Seed Market in SE and S Asia
South East Asia
Thailand
Philippines
Vietnam
Indonesia
Malaysia
Myanmar
South Asia
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Nepal
Sri Lanka
China
Before ’80s
In SE Asia – vegetable seed industry was more of a seed trading system
• heavy dependence on imported or introduced varieties developed in Western countries
• exchange of farmer-saved seeds
• use of open-pollinated (OP) varieties rather than hybrids
Most often varieties developed from other countries did not do well under local conditions particularly during the rainy season
Challenges and Constraints
In the early 80’s, there were hardly any systematic efforts to develop local hybrid varieties that have:
• High yields
• Better disease tolerance
• Better taste and quality
• Improved shelf-life and shipping quality
• Extended growing season
‘Financing Gap’
• production cost for many vegetables – much higher than cereals (rice, corn) and rootcrops
• Majority of farmers are resource-poor – need access to credit and financing
• Financing not attractive to banks due to high risks of crop failures
Lack of Basic Support Services
• Dilapidated farm to market roads – high cost of transport
• Lack of post-harvest facilities – post harvest losses are very high
Diverse growing conditions and farming systems …
• Requires location-specific breeding due to high GxE interaction
• Complex pest and disease problems compounded by race or strain specific-responses
Highly diverse “regional” consumer preferences…
• Requires good market knowledge – farmers, traders, consumers
• Accessibility and availability of broad germplasm base – a ‘must’ for breeding
1980’s
The lack of appropriate varieties that are adapted to local conditions, with better pest and disease resistance or tolerance and acceptable quality was the “missing link” in achieving optimum yields and maximum profits in most of SE and S Asian countries.
The Value Chain
• Reliable seeds coupled with improved farming technologies can result in optimum yields, thus ensuring higher or better income for the farmers
• The development of the vegetable industry as a whole also means growth of the vegetable seed market
East-West Seeds – Technology Transfer
ZERO to MEDIUM TECH APPROACH
• Technology Transfer Program in the Philippines to transform rice growers into vegetable growers – various projects with external funding, such as the Ilocos Vegetable Basket Project funded by provincial government
• DED sponsored project in Visayas; hailed as a very successful Public-Private Partnership project
•
• Vegetable Basket Project in Ilocos
• Objective
• To improve farmer incomes and supply of vegetables by transferring commercial vegetable production technologies to a group of 1000+ rice farmers.
• Funded by Provincial government
LOW to MEDIUM TECH
• Introduction of improved seeds to replace lower quality traditional varieties
• Introduce seeds and improved crop management practices as a technology package
Technology package
• Seeds, seedling raising, trellis, plastic mulch, cultural practices (bedding, fertilizer, irrigation)
HIGH TECH APPROACH
Green & Clean Vegetables Ltd.
• Production of high quality, hygienic vegetables for export and local markets in nethouses or greenhouses.
• Initiative to develop high tech horticulture.
• Certification: Green and Clean Vegetables Ltd has received EUREPGAP certification for the farming operations and will shortly begin HACCP certification for the packing facilities.
East-West Variety Development Approach
‘Breed where the market is’ – breeding under local conditions that are in close proximity to markets; several breeding locations located in strategic areas representing different agro-climatic conditions
Strong product development support – extensive testing of varieties in farmers’ fields and gathering of market information for breeders
Strong sales and marketing and product/market development organization - with strong links to R&D
EW Plant Breeding Milestones
Bittergourd
an important cucurbit crop in tropical Asia with high market value
First successful market introductions from EW local hybrid breeding were achieved in bittergourd in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
Transformed backyard and small-scale to commercial scale farming
EW has a leading position in SE Asian markets and is making inroads in the huge South Asian bittergourd market
Pumpkin
EW almost gave up on pumpkin breeding program because of severe virus infection
Fortunately, few entries showed high levels of field tolerance – led to the development of ‘Suprema’ in the Philippines
‘Suprema’ became the leading pumpkin variety in several SE Asian markets (e.g. Vietnam) and has also found rapid acceptance in South Asian markets in recent years
Cucumber
The largest Cucurbit crop in tropical Asia
EW leads in the small fruited segment (Lanna C and Micro-C)
Innovations – white spines, improved shelf life, higher female/male ratios, disease tolerance and improved fruit shape
Lanna 5 and Micro-C played a key role in successful establishment of drip irrigation and fertigation sytems for cucumber production in Thailand
Long Bean
- EW has the leading position in the two main long bean markets in SE Asia: Indonesia and Thailand
- Improved yield and pod quality
Onion
- Red Pinoy, a Red Creole selection with improved adaptation and storage
Brassicas
- Improved Chinese kale and choysum varieties are widely copied by competitors, a good measure of its good quality
Coriander
- First slow-bolting coriander selected and introduced in Asia
East-West Seeds
• Created dramatic plant breeding breakthroughs for vegetable farmers in tropical Asia through a combination of excellent seedmanship, extensive knowledge of local markets and local plant breeding
• Played a key role in the development of the region’s vegetable seed markets by pioneering local breeding of adapted hybrids + high seed quality standards
• Today, we are the world’s leading breeder and distributor of tropical vegetable seeds
Summary & Conclusions
• The evolution of this fast growing commercial seed markets is largely due to farmers’ recognition of the economic benefits of using high quality seeds of improved varieties
• Value-adding from the private sector will further expand the commercial seed market in SE Asia
• The knowledge and expertise developed to overcome the constraints in SE Asian vegetable markets can be harnessed to support development of the vegetable seed markets and vegetable production systems in other tropical countries