The International Movement of Seed
Professional seed companies are increasingly becoming global players and have very international operations. The business today is characterized by:
- International teams working on product development in multiple R&D and screening sites to test variety adaptation to various climatological and ecological zones
- Seed produced in countries in the Northern and Southern hemispheres in different climatic zones for reasons of quality and logistics
- Seed processing, treatment, enhancement, quality control and packing done frequently at a limited number of central sites for reasons of quality and efficiency
- Marketing and distribution of seeds done globally from a central logistic facility. Seed can be re-exported to multiple destination countries in small shipments over many years.
The material moving across international borders include
- Germplasm for R&D purposes
- Experimental lines and hybrids for screening purposes
- Basic seed for multiplication purposes, and
- Commercial varieties and hybrids for marketing purposes