Sowing the seeds of sustained growth

Viraporn Mongkolchaisit, division director of the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand, says that her institute has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences to jointly cultivate expertise. Each year, the agency deputes three researchers to Sichuan and trains five Sichuan scientists in modern breeding techniques, she says.

"We have been working on new breeds resistant to bacterial wilt such as chili, cucumber and bitter gourd. The new varieties have higher yields and better taste as we found the antibodies against disease can keep the plant growing more safely," she said.

Lu Zhizhong, a technician from the international business department of Hubei Seeds Group says his company has exported 5,000 tons of hybrid rice seeds to countries in Southeast and South Asia, more than 30 times the amount in 2002.

In 2002, the Hubei Seeds Group became the first company to obtain an export certificate from the Ministry of Agriculture. "Seeds, unlike food, are usually governed by customs," he said. "Our seeds are of superb quality and have passed all the required inspection and quarantine tests for exports to Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh."

Some countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan have huge demand for high-yield seeds to feed their large population while their land is limited, Lu said.

However, obstacles still remain. Lu says that though Thailand is well known for its high-quality rice, it is reluctant to release its germplasm resources, while the marketing system is not that efficient in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

Jin Ke from the CAAS suggests that both sides step up bilateral exchanges in agricultural professional training and degree courses. Some joint laboratories and research centers can also be set up to further explore the role of agricultural technology transfer, he said.