Responding to the challenges of a changing world: The role of new plant varieties and high quality seed in agriculture

The Second World Seed Conference, held at Rome, Italy, on September 2009, highlighted the critical role of new plant varieties and high quality seed in providing a dynamic and sustainable agriculture that can provide sustainable food security and economic development in the context of current and future global challenges. It concluded that governments need to develop and maintain an enabling environment to encourage plant breeding and the production and distribution of high quality seed.