New report shows the benefits of public-private partnerships for promoting the sharing of improved vegetable varieties in Asia
Of all seed companies, 41 responded to the request for data, and combining data with that from previous years, creates a dataset of 61 seed companies. Membership has increased from 19 seed companies in 2017 when it was established, to 58 full members in 2024, including 18 new members in the last year. And of member seed companies, 59% are small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 100 employees. In 2024, WorldVeg shipped 3,098 seed samples to Consortium members, with bitter gourd and pepper accounting for the bulk of the seed shared. Since 2017, a total of 14,711 seed shipments have been sent out to members.
What was clear is that a growing number of seed companies are using WorldVeg germplasm of pepper, tomato, bitter gourd and pumpkin, in their breeding programs, and that some have also started using loofah germplasm. The number of vegetable varieties on the market containing WorldVeg-developed germplasm increased from 47 varieties in 2017, to a significant 193 in 2024. Seed sales of WorldVeg-related varieties have also grown exponentially from 50 tonnes in 2022, to 64 tonnes in 2023, and 83 tonnes in 2024. This volume of seed is enough to plant an estimated 316,300 hectares and reach 829,700 farm households.
Begomovirus resistance is stated as the most desired trait for all five crops, along with higher yields. Other important traits include resistance to powdery mildew for bitter gourd, pumpkin and loofah, is bacterial wilt resistance for tomato, anthracnose resistance for pepper, and tolerance against high temperatures for pepper and tomato.
Overall, the results of this study evidently show that the Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) – World Vegetable Center Vegetable Breeding Consortium is enabling greater use of WorldVeg enhanced germplasm across Asia’s seed sector, thus increasing the benefits of smallholder vegetable farmers across the continent.
