THE ROLE OF NATIONAL SEED POLICIES IN RE-STRUCTURING THE SEED SECTOR IN CEEC, CIS AND OTHER COUNTRIES INTRANSITION

摘要

Seeds are a key input for the production of the annual crops that provide the most of the world's food requirement. They are both the means of establishing a new crop each season and they determine the genetic potential of the crop that is grown. Seeds also provide the vehicle to transfer new genotypes (varieties) from research institutions into the farming community. Despite this fundamental role in crop production, seeds also have some special attributes arising from their biological properties, which make them a difficult product to handle. This is not only a result of physiology and genetics, which are of general application, but there are also strong economic and policy dimensions that are specific to crops, countries and regions.