OCTOBER 2018 SEEDWORLD.COM / 81 HilverdaKooij and Florist real- ized they could benefit from a collaboration,” said Felicia Vandervelde, Florist Holland BV North American sales sup- port. “By working together, we hope to offer growers a better mix of genetics via a trusted supply chain.” The companies look to ful- fill their combined ambitions for growth and innovation, by pooling their knowledge and resources. The join focus is pri- marily on investing in automa- tion, and innovative cultivation and breeding techniques. “In the start-up period, we regularly discussed our joint ambitions and the drive for innovation with each other,” says Jan Hilverda, managing director of HilverdaKooij. “It soon become clear that our goals were the same. With all the possibilities we create by combining our companies, this is the only logical step for the future.” Florist Holland has long been known as the gerbera specialist in breeding and propagation of cut flowers and potted plants, with its Garvinea and other series. HilverdaKooij focuses on the selection, breeding and propagation of Dianthus, Limonium and Alstroemeria varieties. Both companies supply plants to customers around the world. —Source: Greenhouse Grower. STATUS NIGERIA Paul Ilona, representing Nigeria’s HarvestPlus, an organization that focuses on improving nutrition and public health through biofortifica- tion of food crops, believes that urbanization within the country has not been prop- erly managed and that it’s affecting the dietary diversity of residents. According to Ilona, fruit trees have been overtaken by ornamental trees, affect- ing the country’s nutritional density, hence the need for biofortification. “Urbanization is seriously affecting the dietary diver- sity of Negerians, and there is need for more nutritious foods,” Ilona said. “We have not done enough to add value to diversifying our foods; we have focused too much on urbanization.” He said in the old days, on the way from school, you could climb any number of fruit trees. Ornamental trees are good, he said, but they do not add value. Urbanization is good, he adds, but we have not managed it well. Ilona believe the country is concentrating too much on producing carbohydrate foods. “It is not about how much food you have to put into the system,” he said. “It’s the extent to which the food you have meets the desires of your body.” In 2015, the World Health Organization cited that every hour 100 children under the age of five die and six women of childbearing age die in Nigeria. “This should be a con- cern to us. About 60 percent of the reasons for their deaths have been attributed to mal- nutrition,” Ilona said. —Source: The Herald, News Agency of Nigeria. STATUS PAKISTAN The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has entered into an agreement with Sargodha University to help enhance its institutional capacity of the seed sector to be in line with the amended 1976 Seed Act and Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, 2016. Sargodha University has become the first public sector varsity to have signed an agreement with the FAO. The two sides expressed their mutual interests in conser- vation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources, strengthening agricultural research programs in the development of modern seed technology, climate-smart agriculture practices, bioforti- fied food crop varieties, and improved technologies for minimizing post-harvest losses of food crops. According to the agree- ment, FAO and the university will initiate certain capac- ity development activities, including training programs for small-to-medium scale farmers, agribusinesses and entrepreneurs and devel- opment of a technology delivery mechanism and standard operating proce- dures between the university and the private sector. —Source: Dawn.com. SW