Executive Director, Daniel Bayce Muñoz, stressed that this was the first time that INASE had made an international seed donation.
Montevideo, 6 September 2024 (IICA) – Uruguay’s National Institute of Seeds (INASE) undertook to contribute to the recovery of Caribbean family farmers, by donating seeds to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, following the devastation wrought by the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July.
Executive Director of INASE, Daniel Bayce Muñoz, explained that, “All the seeds we are sending are for vegetables or fruits, including lettuce, onion, carrot, beet and melon, among other crops that do not require large cultivation plots and that are suitable for family farming”.
The INASE head also mentioned that the organization had readily agreed to assist, on receiving a call from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), requesting support to respond to the catastrophe that had occurred in the Caribbean.
He explained that, “We always have a lot of remaining seeds after we have completed our analyses. We normally donate seeds for prisons or rural schools to use in their vegetable gardens. So, when IICA explained the needs in the Caribbean, due to the devastation in the aftermath of the hurricane, we realized that this cause justified a donation, and we quickly prepared the package”.
INASE is currently preparing another dispatch of seeds to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and has requested the collaboration of private companies in Paraguay, which usually have extra seeds that are of a similar quality, but that cannot be sold, due to commercial standards.
Bayce Muñoz stressed that this was the first time that INASE had made an international seed donation.
“When we received IICA’s request—he recalled—we realized that we had to act as quickly as possible, because time is of the essence in a situation like this one. So, we simply sent the material that we had available at that moment. We realized that when a country receives seeds, it takes time to distribute them to farmers and time for them to plant and reap the crop. Thus, we couldn’t delay. We take pride in being able to assist, although you always feel that you could do more in extremely difficult situations like this”.
Announcement by Minister Mattos
INASE is an autonomous, non-governmental, public institution responsible for regulations governing seeds in Uruguay. It oversees quality control for seeds placed on the market, as well as for export and import. It operates as an official laboratory in the country and maintains a registry of patents and commercial varieties. It is also in charge of some aspects of biosecurity in the adoption of transgenic crops.
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines seed donation was announced by the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay, Fernando Mattos, in a video conference with Minister Saboto Caeser, who oversees the agriculture sector portfolio in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and IICA Director General, Manuel Otero.
Mattos also offered technical cooperation after the passage of the hurricane. Beryl, which reached Category 5 strength, was considered potentially catastrophic, featuring winds of up to 260 kilometers per hour and powerful swells. The weather phenomenon razed approximately 1,000 homes and other infrastructure, destroying plantations and wiping out livestock.
On behalf of the government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Minister Saboto Caesar thanked Uruguay for its act of solidarity and commended IICA for being a bridge between countries and institutions, focusing on agricultural resilience and sustainability in the region.
Caribbean countries are among the countries in the world most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, which has triggered more frequent and intense weather phenomena and resulted in rising sea levels and coastal erosion that are endangering agricultural communities and units.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
