FAO and ISTA discuss ways to advance seed quality in agriculture

4 February 2020, Rome - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and Andreas Wais, the Secretary-General of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), today discussed the importance of seed quality and supporting farmers to improve their seed systems.

Wais led a high-level delegation from ISTA in a meeting with the Director-General at FAO headquarters where they discussed new opportunities to support countries provide farmers with the latest information about seed quality and testing.

FAO and ISTA signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2006 covering capacity building, technology transfer and the exchange of information regarding all aspects of seed quality assurance.

The Director-General and the ISTA delegation agreed that nature-based solutions were critical in agriculture and that seeds were essential for building food diversity through biodiversity.

Dr Qu also discussed how FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which aims to create "matchmaking" between donors and recipients to support tailor-made efforts to assist the most vulnerable, could play a role in strengthening synergies and ensuring seed support for farmers.