b'Thats the most important thing. Nobody can achieve this alone. There is a wealth of expertise around us and many groups representing different areas of focus. We must actively engage."Mark Watne, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU) and representative of the World Farmers Organization (WFO) for the World Seed Partnership (WSP), says efficiency is at the heart of collaboration. When youre having these discus-sions, if you don\'t include the farmers, the laboratories, the promoters, the seed storage systems or other groups, you may find each of those groups goals aren\'t completely aligned with the other groups that need to use those resources down the line, Watne says. You get a much better end result, and you get it quicker and more efficiently. Organizations like Seeds of Success and native seed companies work to refresh and fix Partnerships such as the Worldecosystems ravaged by natural disasters by reestablishing a native habitat. Seed Partnership (WSP) show ways the seed industry is working on partneringdegradation and halt biodiversity loss.together to better the industry.Restoring landscapes using native Making quality seed available for allplant species serves us in the long term farmers is a challenging goal, but thebecause we can restore the essential World Seed Partnership has seen positiveecosystem services that native landscapes outcomes in several countries already.provide such as watershed protection, The United Republic of Tanzania was thecarbon sequestration, and pollinator first success story. It is now a member ofconservation, says Stephanie Green, UPOV, has a national seed testing labora- plant physiologist and seed curator for the tory accredited by ISTA, is a member ofU.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the OECD Seed Schemes and has strongAgricultural Research Service (ARS). national seed and farmers associations inJill Wheeler, head of sustainable pro-place. ductivity for Syngenta in North America, In 2019, the WSP organizations par- says the future success of the industry ticipated in a seed-focused Congressis not only based on reducing biotic and in Nigeria where stakeholders from theabiotic stresses that chip away at the full political and agricultural sectors cameyield potential of seeds, but also risk man-together to promote change. Nigeria alsoagement, and perhaps most importantly, now has an ISTA seed testing laboratoryMark Watne serves as president of thecollaboration.and is an observer country to the OECDNorth Dakota Farmers Union. One of the most important things we Seed Schemes. There has been progress incan do as an industry is talk more openly Ethiopia and other countries, as well. scorched foreststhe effects of naturalabout what we are seeing in the environ-At WSP, we don\'t get in depth aboutdisasters are far-reaching and long last- ment and what we can do to manage eco-how farms should look, Watne says. Buting, with ecosystem recovery in the facesystems more sustainably, Wheeler says. we do need to find the best avenue to pro- of climate change spanning decades. ItsCollaboration will increasingly be needed duce enough food to sustain ourselves asa long, hard road, with no clear shortcutto address these ever-larger challenges.the population grows, or furthermore, toin sight.Plant health is at the center of all these feed the people we currently have, and aAnother goal mapped out by the IPPCefforts, not just for food crops, but also lot of that is going to depend on the seed.is No. 15: To protect, restore and promotethe overall ecosystem.sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,Wheeler says it isnt just plant health The Road to Recovery sustainably manage forests, combatthat must be considered, but soil health Sand-covered flood plains, wildfiredesertification, and halt and reverse landtoo. 48/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2020'