Agricultural Seed Development Project

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The principal objective of the Seed Development Project is to improve the national seed system's capacity to produce high quality seed efficiently. To meet the project's short term objective of improving the supply of quality seed for the domestic and export market, the project will provide financial and technical assistance for: 1) the development of three private enterprises specializing in the multiplication of domestic and imported parent hybrid seed for maize, sunflower, sugarbeet, and their processing and marketing; and b) the germplasm maintenance and development for three leading domestic suppliers of hybrid maize, sunflower, and sugarbeet seed. To help meet the project's medium term objective of developing a competitive seed system, the project will provide financial and technical assistance for: 1) improving the regulatory framework for the seed system; 2) the development of an agricultural research strategy and plan; and 3) the Ukrainian Institute for Agro-Ecology and Biotechnology. In addition to these specific interventions in the seed system, the liberalization of seed pricing, marketing, and trade implemented within the context of the Government's economic reform program, will establish the enabling policy environment to enhance the efficiency of the national seed system.