Myanmar is one of the top global exporting countries of mung bean. In recent years, the European Union’s potential as a premium market for Myanmar mung bean has increased.
Although there is an opportunity on the demand side, there are only limited choices for improved varieties with Yellow Mosaic Resistance (YMV) that are suitable for both sprouting market (premium market) and grain exportation. Access to Early Generation Seeds (EGS) in terms of quality and quantity is also a challenge. Furthermore, under-resourced product portfolio management in local small seed companies is a bottleneck in the promotion of new and improved varieties.
Due to the limited capacity and capability of small local seed companies and seed grower farmer groups, their businesses cannot be managed sustainably and efficiently. The marketing capacity of small local seed companies also provided challenges for the building of robust supply systems for the seeds of open-pollinated varieties (OPVs). In the context of this initiative, SFSA partnered with Greenish Sagaing Region (GSR – private local seed company) to establish access to improved mung bean seeds by supporting the launch activities for these new varieties.
Objective
To promote access to new and improved varieties along with building capabilities of GSR seed Company by socializing them on two key elements of the Seeds2B variety commercialization toolkit:
Phase 1: Preliminary work before acting on Solution delivery, which included the review of the Problem statement and reassessment of the relevance of the “designed” solutions: current and new portfolio.
Phase 2: Roll-out the Solution Delivery plan articulated around the production of high-quality EGS. In a second part, provide support for the launch of critical activities such as Targeted Product Profile and the Variety launch plan.
In the timeframe of the initiatives we conducted in Myanmar, we established a partnership with the local seed company GSR, which sells pulses and oilseed crops. We built EGS production capacity, while simultaneously providing EGS purification training with the support of international and local experts. In partnership with GSR, SFSA organized farmer field day events to demonstrate the benefits of the recent improvements.
Furthermore, we built our partner’s capacity for seed portfolio management by deploying our Seeds2B variety commercialization toolkit. In addition, we supported market intelligence by conducting value chain assessments on the portfolio of the existing mung bean variety. In 2022, GSR was able to deliver 17 tons of mung bean seeds, which is equivalent to 825 Ha or 825 smallholder farmers.
