Paulina Quintao – In the 16 years since the Seeds of Life (SoL) program has been runing, 1200 seed production groups have been established across Timor-Leste.
SoL focuses on distributing high yield crop varieties, with the long-term aim of improving nutrition and improving food security. In 2013, SoL established the national seeds system, comprising of commercial and community-based producers.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Marcos da Cruz expressed his gratitude to the Australian government for its support throughout the program.
Although the Timorese government had allocated funds to import seeds from abroad, he said the establishment of the groups would ensure that 50% of seeds would be purchased inside the country.
"We have established an association for seed producers and 19 varieties have been launched," da Cruz said in a speech at last month's TimorAg2016 conference at Hotel Novu Turismo in Dili.
While seeds such as green beans, peanuts and soybeans would still need to be imported, others such as corn and rice could be sourced in Timor.
The SoL program concludes in September 2016, but the Timorese government plans to allocate $2 million for ongoing research and seed development. Da Cruz said the government had also allocated more than $1 million annually to import and distribute seeds to farmers.
SoL Australian Team Leader John Dalton said significant progress had been made over the past 16 years in establishing seed producer groups and a national seed system in Timor-Leste. He said they had also provided training to teams from the Ministry of Agriculture and other partners on seed development.
He said on-farm testing was conducted throughout the program to ensure the quality of the new seed varieties and that many farming communities were now benefiting from improved crop production.
Meanwhile, Australian Ambassador Peter Doyle said although good progress had been made, more work was needed to improve health and malnutrition rates in the country.
He said the Australian government together with the Ministry of Agriculture would launch a new program this year called Farming for Prosperity, which will focus on improving agricultural markets across Timor-Leste. "It will add another dimension in supporting farmers that want to grow more and sell more," he said.
Established in 2000, the SoL program was jointly funded by Australian Aid, The Australian Center for Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Timorese government.
Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/development/13710-sol-establishes-1200-seed-producer-groups