b'WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICAWelcome to South Africa! Even though the ISF World Seed Congress was postponed and is now being held virtually, we still wanted to show off the South African seed sector to get you excited for 2022, when the World Seed Congress will be held in South Africa. South Africas agriculture sector is compromised of both well-developed commercial farmers and small-scale farmers. The seed industry is regulated under the 1976 Plant Improvement Act, which ensures an orderly seed trade by providing registration for premises from which the sale, cleaning and packing of seed may be undertaken, and it also prescribes the conditions subject to which seeds can be sold. It has since been updated by the 2015 Plant Improvement Draft Bill (8B).The industry has evolved to meet the needs of large-scale commercial farming, which has taken precedence over smallholder activities. However, access to improved seeds is still a challenge in some areas in the country. Take a further peek into the history of SANSOR, and dive into one of the biggest pieces of South African agriculture: maize.THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAS SEED INDUSTRY19901970Political transformation and government Negotiations start among the respective crop-specificstrategy in South Africa initiated further seed associations, eventually leading to therestructuring of the seed industry, in particular 1950establishment of the umbrella association,as a result of the deregulation of agriculturalSeed quality is formalizedAssociation of National Seed Organizations.marketing, with the subsequent declaration of with the establishment of thePrivatization during this time further led to thesmall grain crops as seed in terms of the Plant first company laboratories forestablishment of the Association of South AfricanImprovement Act (1976) and the introduction of seed testing.Seed Analysts.small grain seed certification schemes.1940196019802000 The South AfricanThe introduction of seed legislation toThe rationalization of seed certification by theSANSOR becomes a Seedsmens AssociationSouth Africa and subsequentSouth African government was one of theglobally recognized seed forms the first seedreorganization leads to the establishmentspearheading factors for the establishment of theindustry organization, industry grouping. of the South African Plant BreedersSouth African National Seed Organization. This ledafter hosting the Association, South African Hybrid Maizethe establishment of SANSOR in 1989, graduallyInternational World Organization, South African Vegetableincorporating almost all noteworthy role playersSeed Congress in 2001. Growers Association and South Africanin the seed industry. Forage Crop Seed Association.Sources: Department of Agriculture, forestry & fisheries of the Republic of South Africa|South African National Seed Organisation (SANSOR)10/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2020'