The World Seed Congress is now underway, and this year it is being held in Lisbon. The Siete Agromarketing team, under the eComercio Agrario banner, has travelled there to witness global seed industry trends and the needs of a sector that plays such a key role at the very beginning of the agri-food chain.
Throughout the morning, expert panels, conferences, and interviews have been taking place. At the start of the day, the opening ceremony was held with the participation, among others, of Portugal’s Minister of Agriculture, José Manuel Fernandes. In addition to highlighting the work being carried out in his country, he acknowledged that global challenges cannot be tackled through individualism. “Global cohesion and cooperation between organizations, federations, companies, and public entities are essential to meet the challenges posed by society, which requires food in both quantity and quality.”
In his speech, as has become common among his counterparts across the European Union, he raised the issue of New Genomic Techniques, an area currently being addressed by the European integration body. Like Spain, Portugal supports this initiative, advocating for a regulatory framework that delivers security, competitiveness, improvements, and innovation for the agri-food sector.
Most of the messages delivered during the opening sessions — effectively the guiding principles on which this World Seed Congress is built — focused on the sector’s urgent need for collaboration among all stakeholders across the value chain and governments worldwide. The goal is to create a global environment in which investment is no longer hindered and the use of advanced techniques can reach the final product and the first link in the chain.
Regulatory progress varies greatly across different regions of the world, creating disparities among producers in different countries. While some producers already benefit from improved seeds developed with techniques that enhance productivity, others remain left behind — placed there by their governments due to traditions, culture, lack of knowledge, or conviction, depending on one’s perspective.
The Secretary General of the International Seed Federation (ISF), Michael Keller, organizer and driving force behind the congress, along with future ISF President Lorena Basso — the first woman to lead the International Seed Federation in its more than 100-year history — emphasized concepts such as unity, cohesion, cooperation, dialogue, and collaboration. Their shared objective is to achieve global regulatory coherence in the seed sector and encourage countries to adopt techniques that are already a reality, even if not all governments yet recognize their benefits.
Europe remains one of the regions lagging behind, progressing more slowly than countries such as China, India, or even parts of Latin America. Africa, meanwhile, continues to face major limitations that prevent the emergence of a new landscape capable of boosting food production.
This congress therefore begins with philosophical foundations rooted in the need to redefine a global regulatory framework from which strategies and policies can be developed — policies that prioritize food production based on innovation, sustainability, competitiveness, and profitability. These are considered the solid pillars needed to move agriculture forward through new technologies, just as technological advancement has transformed other economic sectors.
Today, as Keller pointed out, the seed sector is twenty times larger than it was 50 years ago. Investment in innovation has soared, yet it continues to be held back by the lack of supportive regulation. “We must work together, united, to create common tools and strategies that benefit the entire agri-food chain.”
During the press conference following the inauguration, attended by Michael Keller, Lorena Basso, Arthur Santosh Attavar, Anup Jagwani, and Pedro Pereira Dias, the same message was reiterated.
Topics such as the impact of the war in Ukraine, tensions involving Iran, and the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz were also discussed, with participants highlighting their negative impact on agriculture globally, particularly due to rising fertilizer prices.
Regarding fertilizer costs, the World Bank representative explained that credit lines are being provided to help stakeholders in the sector purchase fertilizers. In addition, loan programs are being designed for the same purpose, while work continues with companies to identify solutions to the current price situation, which is hindering agricultural development in more vulnerable regions.
