SAN JOSE, (IICA) – The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) have signed an agreement to strengthen laboratories that perform seed quality analysis and support seed certification systems in the Americas.
The two institutions will work together to promote the sharing of technical knowledge, human resource training, standardised seed analysis methodologies and capacity building for certification and quality control bodies.
ISTA president Ernest Allen explained that the agreement establishes a formal pathway designed to ensure that the Americas remain at the forefront of science and technology:
“This document is a bridge between our two organisations. We know that from a small seed, great things can grow. Today, we are planting this partnership with every expectation that it will grow into a robust collaboration that will bear fruit for all 34 IICA member states,” he emphasised.
IICA director-general Manuel Otero noted that the role of seeds is key to modernisation and food security in the Americas and stressed the importance of concrete actions: “We must have a clear roadmap and identify actions to demonstrate to the entire hemisphere that we are working to improve people’s quality of life”.
The agreement calls for joint technical assistance and training activities, as well as the promotion of regional initiatives aimed at fostering technological innovation and facilitating the participation of countries in the Americas in international seed trade and certification systems.
With this partnership, IICA and ISTA aim to help make the agriculture sector in the Americas more competitive through the application of science-based and globally recognised standardised rules for seed quality analysis.