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JUNE 2015 SEEDWORLD.COM 73 as this ensures Irish growers are using the best possible varieties for commercial gain while maintaining the integ- rity of our industry. Tom Bryan will serve as out- going vice president along with the new incoming vice president Jim Gibbons of Germinal Seeds from Horse Jockey Co. Tipperary. Established in 1914 ISTA rep- resents 16 companies in Ireland. The associations members represent the multi- pliers producers and distribu- tors of certified cereal seed. Having the most up-to-date technology and equipment to produce the best genetic seed is a key focus of ISTA to ensure the best varieties of seed are made available. Source Irish Seed Trade Association and AgriLand. STATUS MOZAMBIQUE Policy breakthroughs on transgenic research in Mozambique and Tanzania have led to approval of confined field trials CFTs and a more research-friendly regulatory framework. Mozambiques CFTs will be at the Instituto de Investigao Agrria de Moambique IIAM Agricultural Research Institute of Mozambique research station at Chokwe about 125 miles north of the countrys capital Maputo. Next door in Tanzania a strin- gent policy that was prohibi- tive in terms of the onerous liability it placed on research- ers has been revised. What all this means is that the two countries which have been somewhat lagging behind on account of policy constraints can now more substantively engage in the Water Efficient Maize for Africa WEMA project. Inacio Maposs IIAMs director general says that Mozambiques Ministry of Agriculture had been renamed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. This he said was not just an exercise in words but underscored the impor- tance of projects such as WEMA. In Mozambique you cannot talk about food security without talking about maize he said. Statistics show that 95 percent of Mozambiques smallholders grow maize and that maize covers 40 percent of the land devoted to annual crops. Despite the recent break- throughs more remains to be done. In Kenya the 2012 ban on importation of genetically modified organisms is still in force. And while there has been remarkable progress in Tanzania and the policy is less stringent on transgenic research there is still more ground to be covered. The menace posed by the maize lethal necrosis MLN disease is a high priority given its threat to Africas food security. MLN diagnos- tics and management call for concerted action by all play- ers in the maize value chain with regulatory frameworks playing a key role. CIMMYT has an open call for MLN screening for the cropping season which started at the end of May. The WEMA project which is led by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation is in its second phase set to end in 2017. Source International Maize and Wheat Improve- ment Center. STATUS UGANDA Ugandas economy will make economic strides when it embraces biotechnology says Fred Omach the minis- ter of state for general duties in the ministry of finance. He believes that the countrys gross domestic product can add another 2 percent on the average annual 7 percent if biotechnology is embraced. There are several businesses already using biotechnology from the traditional ones such as beer companies to the modern ones such as Agro- Genetic Laboratories and BioCrops. Omach who opened the Uganda Biotechnology and Biosafety Consortium UBBC stakeholders conference said that the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill currently under review in parliament would have been passed in 2004 at latest since it ratified the Cartagena Protocol in 2001. The bill is intended to regulate research develop- ment and promotion of bio- technology in the country. Beatrice Anywar Kigum Member of Parliament and shadow minister for water and environment said the wind of technology was blowing and that the country needed to be prepared so as not to be left out. Source New Vision. SW