East-West Seed seeks to sustain stronghold of Philippine seed industry

Dutch company East-West Seed (EWS) continues to dominate the domestic market as 65 percent of smallholder farmers in the country use its over 100 improved vegetable varieties.

 

EWS Public Affairs Lead Dr. Mary Ann P. Sayoc said the country has the biggest share of the local seed industry as compared to its peers in Southeast Asia where the firm also operates.

 

“Like in Indonesia and in Thailand, we are also the market leader there, but at a smaller percentage of around 40 percent, not more than 50 percent,” she told reporters after their recent media briefing held at the Shangri-la Hotel in Makati City.

 

Despite its commanding presence nationwide, EWS remains not complacent to sustain its leading position in the market. It is keen on expanding further in Visayas and Mindanao, where there are still many pockets of farming that are way behind the times.

 

“The geography of the Philippines makes that even attractive for us because there are so many isolated spots in the country where local farming  has always remained traditional,” said Dr. Simon Groot, founder of EWS.

 

With their farm development project, he is confident that vegetable farming in those areas can be brought to a higher level of competence and profitability.

 

“If we see an opportunity, even on a small scale, that a lot of farmers can make money from vegetable farming, that is a chance for us to go in there and start talking to them,” said Groot, who is also the 2019 World Food Prize Laureate and the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines this year.

 

Rice farmers in the country are encouraged to diversify into high-value crops due to their high-potential income. It is estimated that 1 hectare planted with rice would earn less than a 2,000-square-meter plot planted with vegetables. 

 

 “That is one way of contributing to increase GDP [gross domestic product] by improving the lives of farmers, especially in rural areas, with increased income through vegetable farming,” Sayoc noted.

 

 EWS stands to benefit from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) initiative of streamlining the seed procurement process, wherein farmers are given more freedom to choose which variety or kind that they would want to use. 

 

“The DA has become more aware that farmers no longer accept any kind of seeds and any kind of varieties that are giveaway seeds. They become choosy partly because of our efforts,” Groot said of their development and improvement of tropical vegetable varieties here and even abroad. 

Such recent memorandum issued by the DA, per Sayoc, will really work well for EWS being the market leader here, whose “seeds are preferred by the farmers.”

 

Given the upbeat seed industry prospects in the Philippines, the firm hopes to sustain, if not surpass, its current stronghold of this sector.

 

“It’s not easy to increase market share unless we would like to penetrate the pockets of farming areas where we are not present yet,” the public affairs lead of EWS said.

 

She added that their modest outlook is due to lowest per-capita vegetable consumption in the country and stormy weather conditions.

 

“Unless we ask Filipinos to consume more vegetables, we get more demand. And then if we are not visited by a lot of typhoons, that would also improve the situation,” Sayoc said.

 

In 1982, Groot and Filipino seed trader Benito Domingo founded EWS in Lipa, Batangas. At present, it is one of the 10 largest vegetable seed companies in the world. The company employs around 5,000 employees. It has 14 Research and Developments (R&D) establishments in six countries, and 10 seed processing facilities in seven nations.

 

It serves more than 20 million smallholder farmers in over 60 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America with its over 900 improved vegetable varieties. Through its Knowledge Transfer program, it trains tens of thousands of farmers each year in agricultural best practices for vegetable production.

 

The firm has its headquarters in Thailand.

 

In the Philippines, EWS has three R&D establishments in Bulacan, Batangas and Bukidnon. Its local head office is located in San Rafael, Bulacan.