HYDERABAD, India (01 May 2025) – To accelerate the adoption of newly released, high-performing rice varieties in India, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) convened a national-level gathering of the country’s key rice seed system stakeholders at the Seed Accelerator Meet 2025 in Hyderabad. The event aimed to strengthen India’s rice seed delivery ecosystem by enhancing coordination between research institutions and seed commercialization and delivery partners across the public and private sectors. India, while being the world’s leading rice producer, continues to face low per-hectare productivity due to the widespread use of older, less resilient varieties. Market demand for improved rice with value-added traits is increasing. Although advanced varieties have been developed through IRRI’s collaboration with India’s National Agricultural Research and Extension System (NARES), adoption remains low. Limited access to product information and lack of awareness among delivery partners slow down the uptake of these public-bred varieties. Without a proactive strategy for deployment, many promising varieties fail to reach their potential. The Seed Accelerator Meet 2025 focused on closing this gap by promoting collaborative, demand-driven seed delivery mechanisms to bring climate-resilient, high-yielding, and nutrition-rich rice varieties to farmers.
Session chaired by Dr. Swati Nayak, South Asia Lead for Seed Systems, IRRI; Dr. Vikas Kumar Singh, South Asia Regional Breeding Lead, IRRI; Dr. Pradip Dey, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Kolkata Zone V; and Dr. Satish Pareek, R&D Lead, Advanta Seeds, Hyderabad.
The event was led by IRRI’s Dr. Swati Nayak, South Asia Lead for Seed Systems, and Dr. Vikas Kumar Singh, South Asia Regional Breeding Lead. It included participants from state seed corporations, private seed companies, small and medium seed enterprises, ATARIs, and farmer producer companies (FPCs). Dr. Sankalp Bhosale, Interim Head of IRRI’s Rice Breeding Innovations Platform,…