This statement was elaborated by Dr Francisco Miti, Director of the Zambia Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI) in a short video recently published online by the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) under the Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA) and Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP) for Southern and Eastern Africa.
For Dr Miti, every country must have its own Variety Release Committee (VRC) to formerly and orderly introduce varieties on the market and to avoid releasing the same variety more than once. It is also supposed to confirm the merits of the claims on the proposed varieties for release. A VRC must be fully aligned and backed by the law of the country. The law should establish the secretariat of the committee to be responsible for the day-to-day activities of variety release system.
CCARDESA is supporting the current APPSA implementing countries (Angola and Lesotho) to fully adopt the SADC Harmonized Seed Regulatory System to enhance trade, sharing and exchange of improved and high-quality seed across the region.
Kindly click on the link below to watch Dr Francisco Miti, Director General of SCCI, explaining briefly what a VRC should entail.
