Philippines Seed News

Related Seeds Industry News

• July 2022: Department of Agriculture Philippines launched an information system that will hasten rice seed-related transactions and processes. This system is developed by Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) which includes production planning, field data collection, documentation, and geotagging; monitoring, inventory, and distribution of seed reserve; seed source tracing; application and approval of accreditation and seed certifications; and report generation, among other modules and apps.
• July 2022: The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) collaborated with the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office and distributed Golden Rice (GR) seeds to farmers in areas of Urdaneta City and Manaoag, Pangasinan.
• February 2022: According to the Department of Agriculture, the mass production of Golden Rice seeds has started in the current year in the country, especially in the vitamin A-deficient provinces, to utilize and promote biotechnology in the Philippines. Philippine Rice Research Institute leads this program.

August 2022: IRRI increases the Bangladesh capacity of certified seed by conducting training for people from private seed companies at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) along with the Seed Certification Agency (SCA) on the rice seed certification processes.

July 2022: Under the 'Kharif-2 season incentive program' organized by the Department of Agricultural Extension, high-yielding Arize hybrid rice seeds are tolerant to brown grasshoppers and resistant to leaf blight been distributed free of cost to the farmers in Faridpur.

June 2022: Bayer Crop Science, a leading agriculture company in Bangladesh, launched the hybrid rice seed 'INH 16019', which provides tolerance to Brown Plant Hopper (BPH) and Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB).

• October 2022: Pakistan government announced a unique package of Rs 1,800 billion (USD 7.98 Billion) to promote the agriculture sector, including providing free seeds and affordable loans and bringing down the prices of fertilizers and electricity for tubewells.
• September 2022: The government announced to spend of Rs 20 billion (USD 0.09 million) on the production of high-quality seeds of cotton and the development of climate-resilient production technologies in a bid to revive the crop, which has suffered due to climate change and the use of substandard seeds in recent years.
• June 2022: The federal government allocated Rs 21 billion (USD 0.09 Billion) in 2022-23 under a three-year Growth Strategy for improving the output of crops and livestock, countering climate change impact, promoting smart agriculture, value-addition, and agro-processing. It has also announced Rs11bn (USD 0.05 Billion) for providing the latest machinery, laser land-levelers, and quality seeds for the agriculture sector and enhancing exports of farm produce.

• July 2024: BASF introduced Tinuvin NOR 211 AR to assist film producers and converters worldwide in addressing the challenges of plasticulture, which involves the use of plastic materials in agricultural applications. This product provides an effective solution for agricultural plastics exposed to high levels of UV radiation, thermal stress, and inorganic chemicals frequently used in crop management and disinfection processes.
• April 2023: Berry Global Group Inc. expanded its film manufacturing facility in Tennessee to meet the growing demand for its high-performance, sustainable stretch films. The expansion included space for three new cast lines, an upgrade to the facility's existing post-industrial resin (PIR) reprocessing system, and an extension of its rail spur for resin material handling.

• February 2024: India's food ministry launched 'Bharat rice' at a subsidized rate of Rs 29(USD 0.35) per kg to provide relief amid a 15 percent rise in retail prices of grain in the last year.
• October 2023: China cultivated genetically modified giant rice in mountainous regions in Beijing to bolster food security amid soaring global rice prices. The yield reached 12.6 metric tons per hectare a 5 percent increase from 12 metric tons per hectare last year.
• January 2022: The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) released a new rice variety named 'TRY 5' in India. This is an early-duration variety suited for salt-affected soil.

• August 2023: Plenty Unlimited Inc., a San Francisco-based company, began construction on a vertical indoor farming campus that, when completed, is likely to be the largest such operation in the world. The campus, to be developed in phases totaling USD 300 million, will sit on 120 acres in the Meadowville Technology Park.
• February 2022: Aero Farms announced a new tomato research partnership with FFAR and the University of Florida to provide vertical farms with a path to growing high-yielding crops that produce flavored tomatoes in environmental conditions.
• January 2022: Plenty and Walmart announced the long-term investment to bring fresh, peak-flavor produce to shoppers year-round.

• June 2024: Capwell Industries introduced the first fortified rice in Kenya and potentially the entire African continent, enriched with essential vitamins B6, B1, B9 (folic acid), iron, and zinc.
• January 2024: The second AGGRi (AGGRi2) phase was launched in the Nanenane farm of the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI)- Uyole. This phase continues the efforts to accelerate and modernize breeding programs as part of the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Rice (AGGRi) Alliance, which began in 2019.
• December 2023: The Multiple Harvest Rice for Africa (MHRA) project, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was officially inaugurated at the Mbe station in Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire, by AfricaRice. The project's goal is to enhance rice production across the continent.

• May 2024: The African Union Commission was dedicated to strengthening the Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism to enhance food production. This commitment will enable the mechanism to invest in technologies that improve crop yields, initiatives that promote soil health, and infrastructure improvements. Such investments ensure better fertilizer availability and market access for farmers throughout Africa.
• December 2023: Bayer unveiled its new fungicide seed treatment, EverGol Energy, in South Africa, with availability set for farmers in 2024. This treatment targets both Fusarium spp. and Pythium spp. in maize and soybean crops.
• January 2023: K+S agreed to acquire a 75% stake in the fertilizer division of Industrial Commodities Holdings (Pty) Ltd (ICH), a trading firm based in South Africa. Following the signing of the agreement, the newly acquired entity will function under the name Fertiva (Pty) Ltd. This strategic move aims to bolster and broaden K+S's distribution reach in South Africa and East Africa.

• May 2024: Adama Ltd, a leading global crop protection company, launched the EDAPTIS herbicide in Poland. However, EDAPTIS is a ready-to-use solution that provides broad-spectrum control of grassy weeds and improved efficacy in combating resistant populations.
• December 2023: Crystal Crop Protection Limited acquired the trademark GRAMOXONE for the Indian market from Syngenta, a global industry leader in agriculture.
• July 2023: Syngenta India launched Incipio and Simodis, which effectively curb pests like leaf folders, stem borer, and sucking insects which severely reduce the yields in paddy, cotton, and vegetable crops.

• November 2022: Cornell University in the United States rolled out its PhytoPathol Boots (PPB), which was deployed to four grape breeding programs across the United States. These autonomous robots were rolled through vineyards, using computer vision to gather data on the physiological state of each grapevine, allowing breeders and growers to evaluate their vineyards leaf by leaf, in real-time, down to the chemical level.
• March 2022: Two newly released grape varieties, Sugrafiftytwo, an ultra-early ripening green seedless grape variety with a sweet Muscat flavor and firm, crisp texture, and Sugrasixty, a midseason ripening red variety with large berries and a tropical aroma with overtones of mango, were developed collaboratively between Cornell AgriTech and Sun World International, a global fruit genetics and licensing company.