A decade of collaboration between the Asia and Pacific Seed Alliance, the World Vegetable Center 
and seed companies is showing how public-private partnerships can accelerate vegetable 
breeding and expand access to improved varieties across Asia.
From research to farmers’ fields
 
Better vegetable varieties begin with 
good genetics. But turning promising 
breeding material into varieties that 
perform in farmers’ fields requires 
research institutions, breeders and seed 
companies to work together, combining 
scientific expertise with market and 
farmer needs.
That is the idea behind the APSA-
WorldVeg Vegetable Breeding 
Consortium, a partnership between the 
Asia and Pacific Seed Alliance (APSA) 
and the World Vegetable Center 
(WorldVeg).
Formally launched in 2016, the 
Consortium provides a structured 
platform for WorldVeg breeders and 
seed companies to work together to 
accelerate the development and 
dissemination of improved vegetable 
varieties.
What began with 19 member companies 
in 2017 has grown into a regional 
network of 61 seed companies in 2025, 
bringing together public research and 
private-sector capacity around a shared 
goal: improving vegetable farming in 
Asia.
How the Consortium works
 
At the center of the Consortium is 
germplasm, the genetic foundation from 
which better vegetable varieties are 
developed.
For WorldVeg Director General Marco 
Wopereis, the Consortium provides a 
structured way to connect WorldVeg’s 
breeding resources with seed 
companies that can evaluate promising 
materials, incorporate them into their 
breeding programs 
and ultimately bring 
improved 
varieties to 
farmers.
APSA member 
companies 
receive early 
access to 
WorldVeg breeding 
lines and hybrids during an 
exclusive 24-month lead period 
before the materials become 
publicly available. This gives 
companies time to evaluate 
them under local growing 
conditions and integrate 
promising material into their 
own breeding programs.
Seed companies gain access to 
diverse genetics, scientific expertise and 
breeding resources that may otherwise 
be difficult or expensive to develop 
independently. WorldVeg receives 
feedback from companies closely 
connected to farmers and markets, 
helping its breeders understand which 
traits are most urgently needed.
That exchange helps align research with 
real-world challenges, from disease 
resistance and heat tolerance to 
changing consumer preferences and 
production environments.
Members can also jointly support 
special breeding projects focused on 
priority traits or trait combinations that 
would be difficult for individual 
companies to develop alone. By 2025, 14 
such projects had been 
launched, funded by 
participating seed 
companies.
Much of this collaboration 
takes place in the pre-
competitive space, 
allowing companies that 
compete commercially to 
work together on fundamental 
breeding challenges that benefit the 
wider seed sector.
A decade of measurable impact
 
The Consortium’s impact can now be 
seen in the movement of breeding 
material from research programs into 
commercial varieties and, ultimately, 
farmers’ fields.
How Shared Science Is Shaping the 
Future of Vegetables

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