Mauritius is in the process of setting up a National Plant
Varieties and Seeds Office that will regulate the cultivation,
production, trade, export and import of seeds. It will also provide
for the registration of varieties and seeds for testing, inspection
and certification. The Office would further advise the government
on national policies relating to the seeds of any variety of any
kind of plant and make recommendations for the improvement of the
seed regulatory system and on the release of any variety in
Mauritius.
To compliment the introduction of this Office the Mauritian
Agriculture Ministry has also embarked on a project to strengthen
and modernise the agricultural and agribusiness sectors with the
overall aim of further securing food supply, stability and
safety.
The Mauritian Minister of Agriculture, Mr Satish Faugoo, at the
launch of the government initiative emphasized that crucial to the
success of this initiative was seed input as it is "widely
recognised that improved crop varieties and high quality seeds have
played a significant role to usher the green revolution in many
parts of the world." He further highlighted the prevailing
belief in the agricultural sector that "seed security is a
precursor to food security."
Mauritian farmers produce around 130,000 tonnes of vegetables
annually from imported seeds. (Source: Pana Press)
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