Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 2-3 March 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hold a training on general seed production and seed quality control in Tashkent.

The training course was organized under "Integrated Natural Resources Management in Drought-prone and Salt-affected Agricultural Production Systems in Central Asia and Turkey" (CACILM-2) project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Participants  from key governmental departments, including the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Seed Development Center, the State Unitary Enterprise for Control of Agricultural Crops Seed Production of State Inspectorate for Agro-industrial Complex, the State  Variety Testing Committee as well as other stakeholders attended the workshop.

As a key factor in ensuring food security, seed sector includes the production, harvesting, processing, storage, sale and transportation of seeds of agricultural and forest plants, as well as variety maintenance and seed control. The production of new and commercially available varieties of seeds while maintaining their properties, genetic purity and resistance to pests is very important for obtaining a high yield and improving the quality of agricultural products.

«Capacity building of human resources, increasing their knowledge and skills will enable to foster better seed production and productivity. We would like to share our experience with private sector representatives, which is currently actively involved in the seed industry. During the workshop we tried to bridge the gaps in business planning, enterprise management and seed marketing», - national project manager Mukhammadjon Kosimov states.

As foreign experience shows, the private sector is a major driver in increasing the productivity and development of seed production.

The trainings provided an overview of the current national legislation and international regulations governing the seed industry as well as information on seed projects implemented by FAO.

The event provided a platform to discuss the principles of seed quality, field inspection methodology and its application in seed quality assurance, International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) standards and much more.