Early Bird Packages

Stay in comfort during the Sustainable Seed Banking Forum
– Early Bird Packages – Two Complimentary nights in a 5 Star Hotel
Sustainable Seed Banking has just concluded a great deal that will allow for early bird delegates to get 2 nights complimentary stay in the beautiful Sheraton Four Points in Kuching

Delegates need to registered by the 31st of August and this offer is on a first come first served basis. Delegates will also receive free airport transfers to and from Kuching International Airport.
Flights on Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) from Kuala Lumpur are currently at very good prices for travel during that period. Flights on Singapore Airlines and Tiger Air are also very competitive during this time.
Many of the delegates will be taking advantage of their trip to Sarawak to visit one of the world’s “Top 10 Mega Diversity Regions”, the Sustainable SeedBanking secretariat can also assist you or guide you, to make any arrangements outside of the conference.
If you are leading a delegation of 10 or more the Forum will provide a dedicated liaison officer, with required language proficiency in English, to ensure that your delegation is taken care of during its stay.

For more information http://www.sustainableseedbanking.com/

The Seeds of Sustainability

As business becomes more sophisticated and consumers are demanding higher levels of sustainability from producers the concept of the “Sustainable Value Chain” or the “Green Supply Chain” will become more important.

If your business involves anything that grows from seeds then your value chain starts at the seed level. This also means that your risk also starts at the seed level. This also means that the possibility of value adding starts at the seed level.

The area that needs strengthening in the value chain, is Seed Banks or bio-gene banks. It is estimated that some 1,400 seed banks exist in the world today, but considering the number of plant species, countries and the level of development of the vast majority of these seed banks, it represents a level of risk that is unacceptable to most industries.

It is therefore the collective responsibility of all involved in industry sectors that require the use of seeds, to develop seed banks and not just leave this vital link in the chain, to the research departments of universities or in some cases, passionate individuals.

In 2009, the global seed trade is valued at USD 36 Billion. The developed value that these seeds create runs into the Trillions. So we are not just talking about peanuts (or peanut seeds for that matter).

Sustainable Seed Banking Forum themed “Facing the Challenges of Seed Banking in the Developing World” will be hosted in the beautiful city of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from the 10th to 12th October, 2010

For more information visit http://www.sustainableseedbanking.com/

Upcoming Articles

• Population 10 Billion
• Keeping Your Wealth Under Your Pillow Again? - Seeds Under the Pillow
• Not in Your Comfort Zone? - Who’s seed is it really?
• The Developing World and Seed Demand
• Intellectual Property Protection and Investment Motivation
• Bringing the Investor to the Forrest!
This article was written by Nordin Abdullah, Co-Chairman, Sustainable SeedBanking Forum 2010 and Managing Director of Glenreagh Sdn Bhd.

MARDI & Glenreagh to Co-Organise Sustainable Seed Banking

MARDI to Co-Organise Sustainable Seed Banking Forum

MARDI following a recent meeting has agreed to come on board as co-organisers of the Sustainable Seed Banking Forum, bringing years of experience in this field to help drive the development agenda, MARDI will also present the findings of the 6th National Seed Symposium held in Malaysia in March 2010.

Malaysia is continuing to develop a position as a leader in the developing world in many areas and is now setting its sights on becoming the leader in Seedbanking research and development to ensure food security stays at the forefront of the agriculture industry in South East Asia. Malaysia has already laid the foundation with National Seed Symposiums held annually.

“Six National Seed Symposiums makes them able to organise an international event now”, stated Mr Nordin Abdullah, Managing Director of Glenreagh Sdn Bhd, he went on to say “a number of the countries that will participate are looking towards Malaysia for leadership”

Malaysian Agriculture Research & Development Insitute (MARDI) Charter is:

MARDI is resolute in its effort to develop appropriate, efficient and viable technologies and to provide technology leadership to clients involved in the development of food and agriculture sector with unparallel dedication and professionalism. To realize this aspiration, MARDI constantly strives to fulfil its client’s needs by :-
• Developing 40 technologies annually which have the potential to be up-scaled, piloted, or commercialised for the benefit of the food and agriculture sector and related industries.
• Enhancing client performance through technology utilisation.
• Providing quality and accredited services for the development of food and agriculture sector.
• Providing client feedbacks for advisory services, information, training and expertise based on MARDI technology.

Mardi has been entrusted by the Malaysian Government to lead the efforts in seed banking for the agricultural sector.

A Little About SeedBanking

It's no accident that most of the largest seed banks are operated by governmental agencies. Seed banking can be an expensive practice, and the most far-reaching programs are those fueled by economic incentives.

Seedbanks worldwide are now seen as Insurance for Agriculture & Biodiversity. Without seedbanks, repair to the ecological systems affected by natural disasters becomes difficult and in some cases impossible to achieve in relatively short periods.
Seed banks are also known as seed archives, germplasm banks, and seed vaults, are gene banks for plants, and there are approximately 1,400 of them around the world.
These seedbanks range from small, geographically specific ones that support horticultural research and local restoration to larger, overarching projects that seek to provide the means to sustain life in the face of possible mass ecological catastrophes.
One of the first ex situ seed banks, that is a seedbank that was situated away from the sites where seeds were taken from, was set up by a Russian geneticist and botanist Nikolai Vavilov in Leningrad and is still in operation. Known as the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR), it is the only research institution in Russia whose activities include the collection and conservation of plant genetic material. Vavilov, between 1916 and 1933, and his helpers undertook expeditions, collecting more than 250,000 plant samples from around the world. Today, with outposts from Astrakhan to Zeya, the VIR encompasses 320,000 holdings of grain crops, legumes, groat crops, industrial crops, fodder crops, potatoes, vegetables, and herbs.

Sustainable Seedbanking Conference will be held in Sarawak in July, check the website www.sustainableseedbanking.com

Our First SeedBanking Blog

Welcome to our very first Blog here at Blogspot about the Sustainable SeedBanking Forum which will be held in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia 18 - 20 July, 2010.

The theme for this Forum will be "Facing the Challenge of Sustainable SeedBanking in the Developing World".

Currently in Malaysia and most of the developing world, the economic value of the agro sector can only be derived from post harvest or land value. In reality there is another economic value, the seed value or the genetic information.

There is a need to bring all stakeholders together, financial institutions, academia, NGO’s,Policy makers and the Agrobusiness sector, to effect the required paradigm shift that will allow the development of this industry raising it to world class levels while protecting biodiversity and developing food security.

Malaysia is one of the twelve “megadiversity” countries in the world. Sarawak has been listed as one key area for endemism. Malaysia's National Biodiversity Policy Vision is to “Transform Malaysia into a world centre of excellence in conservation,
research and utilisation of tropical biological diversity by the year 2020” The Policy Statement goes on to state “to conserve Malaysia’s Biological diversity and to ensure that its’ components are utilised in a sustainable manner for the continued progress and socio-economic development of the nation.”

Sarawak has been earmarked as the rice bowl of Malaysia. Tanjung Manis, part of SCORE, is being developed as a fully green and Halal city development. Currently infrastructure is being developed but there is a need to develop the
content and economic activities that will drive the sustainable development of the region.

The Sustainable SeedBanking Forum is another Glenreagh Sdn Bhd event. For more information on this event or to register go to our website www.SustainableSeedBanking.com