In order to regulate and control seed systems, every country must have its own Variety Release Committee (VRC) to formally and orderly introduce varieties on the market and to avoid releasing the same variety more than once. The Committee is also supposed to confirm the merits of the claims regarding the proposed varieties for release.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition established a Variety Release Committee whose responsibilities are reviewing proposals for release of new varieties, defining eligibility requirements for the varieties, arranging for reciprocal recognition of varieties with other SADC countries, preparing a national variety list and adding or deleting to the varieties list. The Committee held its first meeting on the 27th to 29th June 2025. The main objective was to review variety release proposals from scientists who wanted to release varieities developed during Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa-APPSA supported studies.
Secretary of Variety Release Committee Mrs Marankoe Selikane highlighted that MAFSN is mandated to ensure that farmers access good quality seed varieties. She indicated that such seeds should be suitable and perform well in the specific agro-ecological zones of Lesotho. The VRC will also ensure that plant breeders’ intellectual property rights are not violated. Mrs Selikane further showed that during the meeting members of VRC were made aware of their huge responsibilities in the committee.
Mr Leuta Matete representing seed producing companies expressed his gratitude to MAFSN for the establishment of VRC. According to him, the establishment of this committee is long overdue. He asserted that the farming community will have access to only certified seeds in programmes such as government subsidies through this committee. On the other hand, Mrs Nothembile Nobala from the department of marketing revealed that some of their roles in the VRC is to ensure that through the varieties on the national seed list farmers practice and benefit from commercial farming.
Members of VRC engaging on their responsibilities during the meeting
The newly established VRC consists of members drawn from institutions forming key stakeholders in the seed system namely: Department of Agricultural Research, Department of Crops, Department of Field Services, The faculty of Agriculture of the National University of Lesotho, Farmer organization representative, Plant protection Officer, National Seed Services, Department of Marketing (Agric), Seed industry representative, Breeder and Relevant produce processor.
