Meeting with Semillar on native and creole seeds

Native and creole seeds are the heritage of the peoples, but current regulatory frameworks threaten this heritage. The SemillAR program was launched by the Secretariat of Peasant and Indigenous Family Agriculture (SAFCI) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAGyP) and is under the direction of Alberto Chiavarino. It seeks to promote a seed production system adapted to the different territories, its multiplication and the rescue of local varieties. These objectives are common to those of Bioleft, and therefore the teams met to seek synergies and work in the same direction.

The members of SemillAR presented their objectives: to strengthen seed improvement, rescue and exchange experiences, and to work on the policy of registering native and creole seeds. The meeting focused on sharing the experiences, experiences and expectations of the two teams in order to think about possible collaborations. The SemillAR program focuses its efforts on finding a way for producers to have access to native and creole seeds, sow them, exchange them, multiply them and market them under a system that protects them. To this end, they initiated a survey together with INTA and the organizations of peasant and indigenous family farming throughout the country, which revealed limitations of the regulations in force to protect and multiply the work of the communities in the protection and multiplication of the bioheritage.

It was decided to set up a working group to study comparative regulations on native and creole seeds, with a view to formulating innovative regulatory proposals that would favor the communities and avoid processes of privatization and commercialization of seeds.