GOVERNMENT TELLS REGULATORS: FAST-TRACK CLIMATE-SMART SEED RELEASES

HARARE – Government has directed plant breeders and seed regulators to align on modernized testing and faster release protocols, warning that regulatory bottlenecks are hindering innovation needed to counter climate change.

Speaking at a two-day workshop on climate-smart crop varieties, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, Professor Obert Jiri, in a speech read on his behalf by Chief Director in the same Ministry, Dr. Dumisani Kutywayo, said Zimbabwe’s food security now depends on scientifically sound, climate-adapted seed reaching farmers faster. 

“We are witnessing increasing frequency and intensity of mid-season droughts, erratic rains, record-breaking heatwaves, and the rapid emergence of novel pests and diseases,” Prof. Jiri said, adding that, “A single dry spell at the flowering stage can wipe out months of investment for a smallholder farmer.

The workshop, themed “Accelerating Research & Development for Climate-Smart Crop Varieties”, has been convened ARC, HDC, CIMMYT, ZPBA, ZSA and NVRC members.

Plant breeders were told their duty is to generate “robust, statistically sound Data on Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability (DUS), alongside Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU).” Data presented to NVRC must reflect multi-location, multi-season testing across diverse agro-ecological zones, “particularly stress-prone environments.”

Directives to Regulators.

Prof. Jiri said that, “Guardianship must not turn into administrative delay. In an era of rapid climate change, regulatory bottlenecks hinder innovation. If a high-yielding, drought-tolerant variety meets all scientific standards, the release process must be swift, transparent, and streamlined.”4 areas for alignment.

Harmonized regional frameworks such as SADC protocols to allow varieties to cross borders without redundant testing new criteria for evaluating climate-smart traits like drought resilience and nutrient-use efficiency

Digital Data Management Systems for integrity, transparency and rapid decision-making.

Government wants breeders to prioritize 4 traits: abiotic stress tolerance, biotic stress resistance to threats like Fall Armyworm and MLN, nutrient-use efficiency/early maturity, and biofortification with Vitamin A, Zinc and Iron. To do this, breeders must adopt Marker-Assisted Selection, Genomic Selection and Speed Breeding to cut variety development from 10-12 years to 4-6 years.