Sri Lanka agrees to help set up south Asian seed bank

Sri Lanka has agreed to assist in setting up a seed bank for south Asian nations following discussion at the 17th South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit last week, a top Minister said yesterday.

The objectives of setting up of the seed bank, as agreed upon by SAARC countries, are to provide regional support to national seed security efforts.

The bank also hopes to address regional seed shortages through collective actions and foster inter-country partnership, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told media.  

It will assist to promote increase of seed replacement rate with appropriate varieties at a faster rate as far as possible so that the use of quality seeds for crop production can be ensured.

When implemented the seed bank will act as a regional seed security reserve for the eight member states that include India, Bangladesh and Nepal as agriculture intensive countries.

At the 17th SAARC Summit four agreements were signed. The other three agreements were multilateral arrangement for recognition of conformity assessment, implementation of regional standards and agreement on rapid response to natural disasters. (UJ)