SAARC Training Focuses On Hybrid Seed Production

Advancing precision plant genetics and regional food resilience against dynamic climate stresses, a three-day international technical workshop titled ‘Hybrid Seed Production of Vegetables for SAARC Member States’ commenced in Bhutan. Organized to scale technical competency and collaborative agricultural frameworks, the symposium targets indigenous high-yield hybrid seed systems across South Asia.

According to organizational sources, the hybrid-mode program opened on Monday, October 5, 2026, running through October 7 at the National Centre for Organic Agriculture in Yusipang. The initiative is jointly executed by the Department of Agriculture under Bhutan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the Dhaka-based SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC).

Bhutan’s Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho, inaugurated the convention as chief guest, while SAARC Secretariat Director Tanvir Ahmad Torophder attended as special guest. The diplomatic panel featured Bangladesh Ambassador to Bhutan Maleka Parveen, First Secretary at the Embassy of India in Bhutan Neha Yadav, and the Director General of the Department of Multilateral Affairs under Bhutan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade.

The sessions convened delegations, scientific resource leaders, and agrarian policy executives across member nations. Approximately 30 Bhutanese agricultural scientists joined in person, with cohorts from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka engaging via encrypted digital links.

Delivering the inaugural address, Minister Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho stated that leveraging advanced plant breeding, hybrid vigor, and certified seed pipelines is vital to securing regional nutritional thresholds and countering virulent pest vectors and environmental instability. He emphasized that capital allocated toward bio-agronomic research and institutional training must directly equip grassroots farmers with high-performing, accessible seed varieties.

The curriculum integrates advanced laboratory protocols, field demonstrations, and practical hybrid breeding modules centered on tomato and chilli crops. Specialized modules cover parent-line management, floral emasculation, controlled pollination, genetic purity verification, post-harvest drying, and seed vigor testing. Organizers affirmed that decentralizing hybrid seed technology directly reduces offshore seed dependencies, yielding uniform, market-ready harvests that uplift smallholder farm economics.
//DBTech/ABM/SMP/BPC//