FEBRUARY 2019 SEEDWORLD.COM / 79 of sorghum could have far- reaching implications for the biofuel and bioplastic indus- tries in South Africa. For the last decade, ACCI director Professor Mark Laing has been working on devel- oping sorghum and sugar beet varieties, as part of an integrated package to provide crop material (feedstock) for these two industries. His interest in the project started about 15 years ago when the price of oil rose to $150 a barrel. “A large plastics company couldn’t get enough ethyl- ene to make the quantities of polythene on order, so they wanted to start their own sugar-to-polythene plant and approached me about suita- ble sugar crops for the interior of South Africa,” he says. With funding from Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), which is based in South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), Laing has been working on how to produce year-round feedstock on an industrial scale, by rotating sorghum and sugar beet. Three primary sugar crops are used in the production of biofuel: sugar cane, sorghum and sugar beet. Laing says sweet sorghum, which is natu- rally high in sugar, is drought tolerant and yields 100 tons per hectare at 13-18 percent sugar in six months, com- pared to sugarcane, which can only be grown in frost-free areas, takes one to two years to reach maturity and yields approximately 75 tons per hectare at 9-14 percent sugar in South Africa. Sugar beet is difficult from an agronomic perspective because it is a northern hemi- sphere crop, but the ACCI is developing varieties that can be grown in South Africa in winter. It has a sugar content of up to 24% and yields 50-75 tons per hectare in six months. Importantly, it is a winter crop and can be rotated with sorghum, which grows in summer, thereby provid- ing year-round feedstock. —Source: African Centre for Crop Improvement STATUS NETHERLANDS Nine projects are granted by NWO-WOTRO Science for Global Development to strengthen the Netherlands- CGIAR research partnership on generating insights that contribute to improving seed systems in focus regions within Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa. The call on ‘Seed Systems Development: Enabling and Scaling Genetic Improvement and Propagation Materials’ was released by the Netherlands-CGIAR partner- ship. The nine awarded pro- ject consortia consist of Dutch research institutes, CGIAR research centers (through CGIAR research programs or platforms), and (local) partners from the public and private sector. Specific seed systems addressed are cassava, maize, groundnut, vegetables, cocoa, forage seed, tilapia and chicken, while some projects have a more general focus on improving the functioning and inclusive- ness of seed systems and (actors in) markets. The call for proposals was built on the premise that development of the seed sector may benefit from research collaboration between practitioners and research institutions from CGIAR, the Netherlands and selected partner countries. With the funded projects, new insights and innova- tive solutions should evolve from synthesising academic expertise, farmers’ experi- ences and knowledge, as well as the practical knowledge of companies and NGOs working within the seed sector and its value chains. Specific objectives of this call were: •To gain insights in how to increase the contribution of high-quality ‘seed’ in improv- ing smallholder farmers’ food and income security; •To identify and test how to contribute to improving availability and access of high- quality ‘seed’ for smallholder and family farms, especially sooner and at a larger scale than in current practice; •To identify and test how to make value chains for private and public seed and animal seed stock more efficient, sustainable and anchored in a supportive ena- bling environment; •To strengthen coopera- tion among CGIAR research- ers affiliated to CRPs and/or Platforms, Dutch researchers and relevant (local) public and private partners. SW