b'Giant Numbers % Percentage of the soft red winter wheat 4 Number of seed organizations that amalga- 60 in the ground in the eastern United mated to form Seeds Canada. On Feb. 1, 2021, the Canadian Seed Trade Association, Canadian PlantStates that comes from the private Technology Agency, Commercial Seed Analystssector breeding community. Generally, Association of Canada and the Canadian Seedpublic breeding is declining every Institute all voted to become one. Seeds Canadas mandate is toyear, but it depends on the state, notes Tatiana Henry, CEO of support the growth of the seed sector in Canada and worldwide,Limagrain Cereal Seeds (LCS). In the Central Plains regionfocusing on plant breeding innovation, seed regulatory moderni- Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraskapublic research is very zation, international trade, value creation, and plant breedersstrong, she says. rights. Were all connected, but for decades were all operating independently. So, the discussion was how do we get everybodyThe amount, in U.S. dollars, in the room to better understand one another and have the dis- $22.9 billion that the Asia-Pacific seed cussions that we needed to have? says President Ellen Sparry. market was worth in 2018, which represents about 30% of the global seed market, accord-Number of countries belonging to the Seeding to Asia-Pacific Seed Association Executive Director May 13 Association of the Americas (SAA) as eitherKanokwan Chodchoey. There is a need to regulate the seed ordinary or observer members. Executive Directorindustry to prevent malpractice, but overregulation may actually Diego Risso says what keeps him up at night is theincrease malpractice. Laws and regulations should be framed fact that the seed industry has a fantastic story toin a way that encourages compliance, Chodchoey says. There tell but hasnt been able to do it at a broad levelespecially toneeds to be a forum for regular consultation between all stake-consumers. I ask myself how to represent this industry in theholders in the public and private sectors. There is an important Americas with a unified voice and provide our members with therole for national seed associations to engage the private sector in right platform in order to analyze and find solutions to currentpolicymaking.complex situations and challenges in the seed industry across the region, Risso says. Thats really essential in leading SAA. The number of member compa-The number of genes in650+ nies belonging to the American 89,857 the genome of canola.Seed Trade Association (ASTA). According to CEO Andy LaVigne, Garth Hodges, vicein 2020-21 ASTA put a heavy president of BASFs Northemphasis on lobbying at the state, federal and international American seed business,levels in response to challenges posed by the pandemic. He says says he looks forward to the technological progress that is goinglegislators have a lot on their plate and bringing seed industry to be made now that the genomes of so many crops have beenconcerns to the forefront was paramount. We were able to revealed. When I started in 2002, it was a big deal for us tobring in [plant breeders] to talk about where we are today. It sequence the canola genome. But now that the technology isreally was a wide an eye-opening experience for a lot of those routine, the leaps and bounds in innovation is amazing, he says. government officials to understand where we have come in the last 10 to 15 years [with this technology], he says. Many of those officials are scientists, and many of them worked in the plant sciences, but theyre on the regulatory side and havent been in a lab for many years.DECEMBER 2021SEEDWORLD.COM /23'