Ethiopian Agricultural Authority piloting variety testing and registration

The Ethiopian Agricultural Authority (EAA) is the sole responsible body in the variety release and registration process of Ethiopia. This means that the authority is mandated to accept applications and conduct DUS and VCU tests. However, the capacity of the authority is limited, as it has not secured its own testing sites for conducting the tests, and it has limited technical capacity for handling the trials. To address these limitations and assist the authority assume its legal responsibility, the EAA has sought the support of the ENSP and GIZ/SSAP project to pilot the process in this production season. The main objectives of this pilot project are to build the EAA’s capacity to manage DUS and VCU tests independently and draw lessons to standardize the new variety testing and registration system.

To materialize the new variety registration system, lots of efforts have been exerted. The projects supported this initiative by organizing various activities such as virtual meetings, workshops, meetings and informal discussions with relevant stakeholders. To convince and build trust, different discussion and consultation platforms were organized for breeders from research centers across the country, EAA management and experts, EIAR/RARIs crop directors, National wheat and barley crop research coordinators and National Variety Release Committee (NVRC) members. As a result of these efforts, a concept note and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) were developed, crops for VCU and DUS test pilot were identified, testing sites and implementing centers were selected, and subcontract agreement signing between EAA and EIAR was facilitated.

The Ethiopian government has recently approved a new seed law that outlines three different systems for registering new crop varieties in the country. One of these systems involves a performance trial conducted by EAA, performance evaluation by a committee of experts, and an approval by a National Variety Release Committee. This system is currently being tested in a pilot project by EAA. EAA subcontracted EIAR to handle the pilot variety testing project. The pilot project is being implemented for two years focusing on two crops: bread wheat and barley. These crops were chosen because they already have established protocols for testing their NPT/VCU and DUS. The pilot project will be carried out by two agricultural research centers of EIAR: Kulumsa ARC for bread wheat and Holeta ARC for barley. The pilot project is funded by the ENSP for bread wheat and by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) / Sustainable Seed Sector Project (SSAP) for barley.

The process was not without its challenges, as trust needed to be built between breeders and EAA. However, after numerous discussions and back and forth communications, it was eventually possible to move forward with submitting the candidate varieties for testing. In total, 14 bread wheat candidate varieties were submitted for testing for 2023 season, with three different maturity sets. EAA coded the candidate varieties and dispatched them to the subcontracted institution (EIAR). One of the implementing centers of EIAR, Kulumsa ARC already dispatched the candidate bread wheat varieties to all collaborating EIAR/RARI research centers for planting and VCU testing. Accordingly, bread wheat candidate varieties for the three maturity sets will be tested on 22 selected testing sites.

In general, there may have been some resistance and debate along the way, the two years collaborative efforts of all involved have resulted in EAA become able to pilot variety testing for bread wheat and barley crops. As the testing and registration process unfolds, it is expected a lot to be learned from the pilot which will help to fine tune the new variety registration system.