b'ASSOCIATION NEWS Keshavulu KunusothImmediate Past PresidentKESHAVULU KUNUSOTH IS DIRECTOR(20192025); Director of Telangana State Seed OF THE TELANGANA STATE SEED ANDand Organic Certification Authority, Hyderabad, ORGANIC CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY, India (2015Present) and Managing Director Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation,(Full Additional Responsibility) of Telangana Government of Telangana, India. He is also aState Seeds Corporation Ltd, Hyderabad (2018Designated Authority for the implementation2024). Earlier in his career (19982015), he served of Organisation for Economic Co-operationin science roles in Seed Science and Technology and Development (OECD) Seed Certification inand Crop Breeding at the State Agricultural India. From India he holds a Bachelors degree inUniversity, Hyderabad.agricultural sciences and a Masters and Doctoral degrees in agriculture, with a specialisation inKeshavulu has advanced ISTAs mission to seed science and technology. He completed hissupport seed quality assurance, reflecting postdoctoral studies in the Department of Plantnot only his deep technical expertise but also Sciences at the University of California, Davis,his commitment to fostering internationalfrom 2022 to 2024 and the OECD Seed Scheme USA. partnerships and advancing the seed sectorAnnual Meeting in 2025. He also has extensive in alignment with sustainable agriculturalexperience in organising impactful seminars, Keshavulu is an accomplished leader with adevelopment goals. He has played a pivotalworkshops and industry events at both national strong track record of delivering impactfulrole in ensuring high quality seed supplies toand international levels.results. With over 28 years of experience inmore than 10 Indian states and facilitating seed the seed sector, he brings deep expertise inexports to other countries. His expertise spansHe has been associated with ISTA since 2007, strategic management, seed supply chain,research management, early generation seedcontributing as a working collaborator, serving as quality assurance, marketing, policy advocacy,multiplication, global seed certification systems,a member of various Technical Committees, and international seed regulations and globalquality assurance and marketing. Keshavulubeing a Member-at-Large of the ISTA Executive partnerships. His work has also significantlyhas led collaborative seed sector projects withCommittee, then Vice-President and finally, contributed to capacity building, institutionalstrategic partners such as USAID (20102015),President.strengthening and fostering internationalfocusing on developing resilient seed systems in cooperation in the seed industry. East Africa and South Asia. He has successfullyAs Immediate Past President, Keshavulu is organised landmark events such as the ISTAcommitted to preserving and advancing ISTAs He has played multiple leadership roles,Seed Congresses in 2019 (Hyderabad) andlegacy in developing globally adopted seed including President and Vice-President of ISTA2025 (Christchurch), ISTA Annual Meetingssampling and testing methods.Ignacio AranciagaMember-at-LargeIGNACIO ARANCIAGA IS AN2009 to 2025. He is currently responsible for AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER FROMthe management of the Argentinian network ARGENTINA. He graduated from theof seed testing laboratories under MERCOSUR Universidad de Moron and has a Mastersaccreditation.degree in seed technology from the Universidad Nacional de Crdoba. Ignacio started his ISTA activities in 2007 when he became a member of the Germination He started working as a seed sampler and seedCommittee. In 2010 he joined the Tetrazolium analyst at INASE (the National Seed InstituteCommittee and in 2016 he became a member of Argentina). In 2000 he became Chief of theof the Bulking and Sampling Committee. At the Purity and Germination Laboratories of theISTA Congress in 2016, Ignacio was elected as a INASE Quality Department. He was Head ofMember-at-Large of the Executive Committee, the Laboratorio Central de Anlisis de Semillasbut he still remains active in the above-(ISTA accredited laboratory AR01) and Directormentioned Technical Committees.of the Quality Evaluation Department from 16 SEED TESTING INTERNATIONAL www.seedtest.org'