CropsThe Seed Sovereignty Initiative will sequence collections in the National Plant Germplasm System, which holds more than 600,000 accessions of over 16,000 species, and use AI to find useful traits.
OrganicIn a position paper on the revision of the EU organic regulation, the seed industry body asks lawmakers to drop Amendment 14, which would let the Commission set extra rules on how organic varieties are bred.
CropsCotton suits loam and sandy loam and is sown from early Asharh to mid-Shrabon; high-yielding varieties need about 1 kg of seed a bigha, hybrids 500-600 g.
CropsA parliamentary committee heard that the Ashuganj plant has also been shut for 19 months, and urged more fertiliser production at home and self-sufficiency in seed.
Under a Bangladesh-Maldives Green Initiative, Mianz College School of Agriculture will test how guava, neem, flame tree and other Bangladeshi species adapt to Maldivian soil and climate.
CropsThe Federation of Seed Industry of India says quicker, science-based approvals for varieties, GM traits and genome editing are needed to lift cotton, oilseed and pulse yields and cut imports.
Of an annual seed demand of about 1.3 million tonnes, only 30 per cent reaches Bangladeshi farmers through the formal, quality-controlled system.
CropsResearchers at The Sainsbury Laboratory and the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon have shown that the PIPL7 peptide made by the embryo is the long-sought ligand of the IKU2 seed-size receptor in the endosperm; raising PIPL7 expression produced larger seeds in a crop proof of concept, and a patent has
In Baishari union of Naikhongchhari, 45-50 kani of rice sown from packets labelled "Ranjit Paijam" set panicles 10-15 days after planting; farmers want the seed tested and compensation, while the seed company blames their methods.
AgrotechBacteria and fungi on and inside seeds may shape germination, seedling vigour and disease resistance; an essay on Biggani.org sets out how DNA sequencing, hyperspectral imaging and AI could measure them.
The FAO 160 variety, a first choice on the Maize Descriptive List, combines rapid maturity with 38.4% dry matter, 57.2% cell-wall digestibility and 36.3% starch, giving livestock farmers who need an early harvest a high-energy forage option.
Tests at Australia's Grains Genebank found 90 per cent of mung bean seed viable after some 45 years, but many tropical crop seeds fell below 85 per cent viability within 20 to 40 years, a warning to seed banks to test regularly.
Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan meets farmer representatives at Krishi Bhawan in a final round of engagement before the Parliament session; the bill would bring heavy penalties and imprisonment for selling fake, adulterated or substandard seed, tighter quality control and traceability acr
