A GOVERNMENT official says the country is at an advanced stage in the development of a legal framework to regulate seed production.
The country’s regulations and laws governing seed production stipulate that only registered sellers and seed testing laboratories can sell and test seed.
Agriculture deputy minister Vangelis Haritatos said government would continue to engage farmers, the private sector and development partners to improve the country’s seed systems.
“Of recent, my ministry has spearheaded the crafting of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which runs from 2022 to 2032, whose main objective is to establish a legal and institutional framework for the management of plant genetic resources in line with the provisions of the international treaty,” he said at the Community Technology Development Organisation conference held in Harare this week.
“The Government of Zimbabwe recognises the fundamental role smallholder farmers play in the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic materials, particularly their role in managing seed, multiplying, breeding and selection, saving and retention as well as utilisation.”
He said Zimbabwe ratified international instruments to promote conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources such as the Convention on Biological Diversity as well as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
“These instruments, including many others, recognise the dangers of confronting plant genetic resources and encouraging countries to take appropriate measures to promote conservation and sustainable use of such diversity,” he said.
“It is, therefore, critical that farmer varieties, which are important aspects of plant genetic resources, are effectively regulated as they contribute to food, nutrition and income security of our farming households.”
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