This document discusses enhancing farmer seed systems for food security and sustainable development. It describes how farmer participatory plant breeding and community seed banks have been established in China since 2000 to improve local crop varieties and preserve landraces. Over time, networks of farmers, researchers, and organizations have formed to support farmer-to-farmer seed exchange, on-farm selection and breeding, and community-based seed production and marketing. The goal is to link formal and farmer seed systems to meet the needs of diverse agroecological regions in China through collaborative models.

1. From PPB to Farmer Seed NetworkFarmer Seed Network::
Enhancing Farmer Seed System for Food Security andEnhancing Farmer Seed System for Food Security and
Sustainable DevelopmentSustainable Development
Yiching SongYiching Song
Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP),Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP),
Chinese Academy of Science (CAS)Chinese Academy of Science (CAS)

2. PPB in SW China
since 2000-----until now
•Seed registeration, seed bank
exchange,
•PVS, PPB
•Seed production
•Value adding
•Exchange, interaction,
innovation and adaptation…..
-Pre-breeding, in field and lab
Genetic evaluation and
-landraces conservation, gende
bank to CSB
-PPB selection and breeding
-training, exchange, recognition
and supporting …
exchange, colective
leaning, recognition
and supporting …

3. • Farmer-Farmer exchange
and networking
• Farmer- scientists
Exchanges and mutual
support!
•
Why? linking 2 seed systems? Farmer Field School ，
Exchange visits
• Working with thousands
such living lab for
adaptation, resilience and
continue…

4. Farmers own Seeds, and networks for exchange, sharing,
diversified food, livelihoods, resilience and adaptation
In 2015 in1 Village:
•PVS: 38 maize, 32 soybean,
•PPB: 8 maize, 52 landraces..
•Seed Production: 2 PPB Vs
etc

5. 5 Community Seed Bank Establishing and link to public
gene banks in GAAS, CAAS, YAAS, and KIB…….

6. 2 Agreements on Access and Benefit sharing
in 2006 in Guangxi

7. Community Based Seed Production have been worked
well and carried out by women farmers groups since
2006, scaling out to other comunities in Yunnan

8. PPB, CSA and PGS for Quality Seed ,
Agroecology and Healthy Food System ..
-
s
• Collective Trade Mark,
GI, trust certification…..
• women and youth
group and farmer
cooperatives…
-Agroecology and organic
farming need farmers’ seeds,
farmers need to value adding
to their seeds, TK and culture
….need CSA, PGS..
….

9. Networking and platform for sharing, Joining force,
supporting scaling up, advocacy………………
National Farmer Seed Network, established
Dec 2013,involving 36 rural communities, in
11 provinces in SW, East, North…
4 public Agriculture R Org (CAAS,CAS)
2 Universities, NGOs,
-Policy advocacy: 3 Suggestions for
“seed law” Revision, 1 accepted by PC
in Oct 2014, New Seed Law started in 2016
-Farmer seed system enhancement: exchange,
PVS, PPB, Seed Exchange, Seed Production
Production, Linking with CSA/PGS networks
2014 11 15
“ ” 2013
12
!1
MCI SEED LAW PROPOSAL
VOL.1
2014’
WORKSHOP

10. China Seed Policy Review (1949-2016 ）
Moving from farmer to enterprise centered, from public
interest/value to private/market driven…
1. (1949-1977 ）： farmer centered, 4 self reliance, 1 support
2. (1978-1999 ）： public research driven, 4 modernization, 1 supply,
3. (2000-2010 ）： Market driven, WTO: opening, link to global market
4. （ 2011-2016 ）： Seed industry empowerment and centralization, global Threats:
……. 2017---- Ecologic civilization, New Seed Law, green transformation,
agroecology, small farmers, rural vitalization…. GIHAS/NIHAS ….CSA…,farmer
cooperatives

11. Decreased rapidly both at field and genetic base levels ……
….
。
图 2-4 1982-2014 年全国（ 18 省） 10 万亩以上水稻品种数量及面积
-Number of Improved Rice Vs
-Number of Hybrid Rice Vs
-Area of Top Five Wheat Vs

12. Big Regional Differentiation
Emerging and Increasing….
….
-Landraces
-Improved V
-Hybrid

13. 3 types of Farming Regions
are emerging
-Traditional Farming, Agro-biodiversity Rich,
-Multifunctional Farming, high income area
-Modern farming, relative large scale and specialized

14. 1.In-field conservation and sustainable use of farmer seeds for
protecting farmers’ interest and ensuring seeds security,
2.Building linkages among farmers, public researchers and seed
enterprises for coherent and complementary collaboration,
3.The use of multiple models and sizes of seed supply in different
regions and at different levels serving the emerging multi-
functional agro-ecological farming practices across China and the
related diversified food systems.
Three seed policy suggestions for
supporting Green Transformation & SDG,

15. ---more than 4000 years farming history, small
scale intensive farming economy until now ，
•still have 240 millions small holding farms, with
average land of 0.5 ha, heterogeneous, and
changing….
-Modern Agriculture ， in the last 30 years, big
“success”, but resulted in big problems & crisis
Growing needs for healthy food, adaptive and
diversified farming for changes and emerging
needs by civil society and Farmer communities……
Farmer Seed System as base of Food System

16. ..Agroecology
•A long process, not one action or a research
•Systems, not bit and piece
•need collaboration, net-working, exchange, sharing……
•Policy..
Reflection

17. 17
石头城农民传统文化和种子交易会
Farmers TK System
农民系统
poor and remote area
OPVs and landraces,
seed selection and maintenance
Farmer to farmer seed exchange
better off green revolution area
several high yielding hybrids
hybrid breeding,
top-down formal seed system
Technology transfer,
Formal System
Farmers farmers
Farmers farmers
Farmers farmers
Farmers farmers
Breeders
Seed Company
Extension
farmers farmers
farmers
Welcome/ 欢迎！
Thanks 、谢谢 !
！