A Public-Private Partnership between the Department of Agriculture and CIC Seeds (Pvt) Limited has given rise to a historic feat resulting in a consignment of hybrid chillie seeds being exported to Bangladesh.
Following the successful production of hybrid seeds in Sri Lanka, CIC Seeds, a fully owned subsidiary of CIC Agri Businesses exported a consignment of hybrid chillie seeds to Bangladesh where trials will be carried out to look into the feasibility of its growth in the South Asian country.
The Department of Agriculture (DOA) provided the technical support and guidance for CIC to initiate this venture.
The export of hybrid vegetable seeds from Sri Lanka is the first of its kind and if successful, will open the door for Sri Lanka to export Hybrid Seeds to Bangladesh and other neighboring countries
Minister of Agriculture K.D. Lalkantha said, “As a Government our intention is to boost local food production by way of producing high yielding and adaptable seeds for our farmers. It is heartening to note that the department of agriculture has worked closely with CIC Seeds for this purpose. But today you’ll have taken a further step to even export these seeds which is commendable.”
The Department of Agricultureafter many years of research developed a few promising local hybrids in vegetables and maize that are comparable with imported hybrids. The DOA then invited the private seed companies in the country to join hands and undertake the Commercial Seed Production of these locally developed products with a view of reducing imports.
CIC Seeds was the first to take up this challenge and was quick in making the investment to commission a formal local hybrid seed production program. After building the necessary infrastructure, manpower and conducting several seasons of trials, CIC Seeds commenced a formal commercial hybrid seed production of the DOA developed hybrids Chillie ‘MICHY 01’ and Capsicum ‘Prarthana’ a couple of years ago in its Seed farms at Pelwehera under the technical supervision of the DOA, as a public-private partnership project.
After successfully producing quality hybrid seeds locally, CIC Seeds commenced field programs to popularise these new hybrids among Sri Lankan farmers to build their confidence in local hybrid seed. Subsequently the company commenced a commercial seed production of two DOA developed hybrids, MICHY 01 Chillie and Capsicum Prathana and distributed among the Sri Lankan farmers at competitive prices partly replacing costly imported hybrid seeds.
The field performance of the hybrids was successful and with the high farmer acceptance, the company now plans to expand its seed production to meet the increasing demand since these products are more adaptable to local conditions than imported seed.
A decade ago, CIC Seeds also commissioned a full-fledged plant breeding program in vegetable and maize crops after recruiting a couple of trained scientists. As a result of long years of R&D, its subsidiary CIC Seeds has been able to develop a few promising hybrids such as chillie, brinjal and maize which are now marketed to Sri Lankan farmers in addition to several specialty rice varieties which are exported to several countries.
Building on this foundation, CIC Seed plans to actively explore opportunities to expand its footprint in the international markets in the future. MD of CIC Agri Businesses Waruna Madawanarachchi said, “Exports of a small quantity of Hybrid Chillie Seed is a landmark event in our long-term vision in positioning CIC not only as the trusted Seed supplier in Sri Lanka but also as an emerging regional player in the seed trade.”