Covid-19, importance of seed testing in seed supply chain

Gubba Seed Lab has organized a webinar for the seed fraternity on “ Covid-19, importance of seed testing in seed supply chain” on 21st May, 2020. The webinar was presented by reverent and highly experienced speakers of the seed industry determining the importance of quality seed for a greater tomorrow!
The webinar was attended by over 200 seed men and women. The speakers included
Dr. Arvind Kapoor, MD. Acsen Hyveg, started his career as an Associate Professor in Plant Breeding and went on to serve the seed corporations like Pro agro, Nunhems, Rasi HyVeg which later translated Ascen Hyveg. Mr. Kapoor’s contribution made Nunhems the leader in the vegetable seed sector. Apart from handling responsibilities as MD he also headed R&D Asia Pacific. Today,after Rasi Hyveg demerged from Rasi seeds P Ltd and became Acsen HyVeg P Ltd, Mr.Kapoor is made the MD.Associated with numerous National and international agri associations Mr.Arvind Kapoor is a proud recipient of BHARTIYA UDYOG RATAN AWARD addressed the topic “ Breeding to Seeding- seed quality is vital”
A focussed presentation on seed quality imbibed the importance of seed quality parameters like the physical purity, prescribed germination percentage, good vigour, healthy and disease free, required moisture for good storability, prescribed genetic purity, uniform size for easy planting. Many quality traits like source link relationship determine the seed quality. Quality traits evaluation during breeding includes evaluation of dormancy, inbreeding depression, etc. seed development stages impact quality specially in season and off season. And, quality enhancement techniques can be used to enhance early protection and vigour.
Mr Raghuvirendra Singh is currently heading the quality division of NUZIVEEDU SEEDS LIMITED. And earlier served Syngenta, Devgen and Monsanto seed companies. With a vast experience of assessing the seed quality for 18 years Mr. Raghuvirendra Singh presented on the topic “ Seed quality Operations during Covid-19 Pandemic”. NSAI and ISF represented to the government on behalf of the seed fraternity and were successful in gaining the required approvals for the seed industry to carry out essential works related to seed supply. Major challenges of seed supply during the covid pandemic were around the varying regulatory frameworks, forecasting demand and supply during changing demographics, need for improved supply chain infrastructure, lack of transparency and visibility
Mr.Gubba Prashanth is the Innovations & Technical lead at Gubba Cold Storage. He heads the technical department and designs the Cold Storages at Gubba. He has designed the first state- of-the-art world class cold storage for seeds in 2008. Gubba Prashanth has been one of the 13 people from Indian refrigeration Industry selected by United States Trade & Development agency for a reverse Trade Mission to USA. He is the person behind the vision of Gubba Seed lab to serve the seed industry in assessing the quality of seeds. Mr.Prashanth presented on the topic “Covid-19 – Seed Testing during testing times”
Mentioning the Gubba Seed Lab is 3rd seed lab to be NABL certified in India is gearing up to serve the seed industry in these critical times. He shared instances where their team working round the clock irrespective of the difficult scenarios. The challenge is to maintain the quality in seed testing where the seed companies make decisions based on the test results. And Gubba seed lab is taking all measures to ensure precise results by efficient tracking systems, unbiased results, experienced team, quality infrastructure and confidentiality.
Mr. Raja Vadlamani currently the Vice President – (supply chain)SCM at Seed Works International has earlier served Advanta, Bioseed, Pioneer seed companies. Being a Seed Supply Chain Professional for more than 30 Years he is Passionate for continuous Process Improvement and learning in the face of rapidly evolving and changing markets. Mr Raja Vadlamani presented on the topic “ Evolving technologies in seed testing and increasing customer expectations in the new era”. Seed testing is important to address the growing food requirement globally and only quality seed plantation can serve the estimated increase of 10 billion population by 2050. Quality is the heart line of the seed supply chain and hence ensuring pre basic seed ( 100% & pure lines), basic seed with >99.5% purity, hybrid seed production with zero defect delivery, processing , packing and distribution with error free proofing can lead to strong delighted grower and customer base. The covid pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of many organisations. The effect of this black swan event can last upto 2-3 years and the companies are forced to re think and transform their supply chain models.
The webinar concluded by addressing the queries of the participants and delivering thanks to all the speakers and audience.