The SANSOR Secretariat circulated several communications among committee members during the period under review.  These communications dealt with a variety of issues of both local and international importance in plant breeding.  A few issues worth mentioning had been formally addressed by the committee. Concerns regarding the milling quality of seed, colour considerations and kernel size were re-visited in a letter, which was subsequently addressed to the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) for clarification.  Progress had been achieved with attempts to establish and standardize the relevant methodology necessary to address kernel size and grain colour correlation between commercial and experimental milling and would be continued on the 2003/4 crop.  Mr AP Pretorius of the ARC Grain Crops Institute would be running these tests.

Mr ML (Marcel) Koekemoer Chairman: Plant Breeders Standing Committee

The Registrar of Plant Improvement and SANSOR agreed on a procedure to clearly differentiate genetically modified varieties from those bred through conventional means on the National Variety List.  This was also on request from producer organizations, as producers should be able to deal with identity preservation systems and needed this kind of information.  It was decided that in the case of genetically modified maize, stem borer resistance would be denoted by the hybrid name followed by the addition of “B” and by  “R” in the case of glyphosate herbicides.  In the interim, the Registrar would grant special permission to sell on an inventory not complying with the naming convention.  The Registrar also requested that this convention be extended to other crops. The expectation was to follow through on this effort and to then communicate to the producers as soon as possible.

SANSOR was also requested to establish a special standing committee under its auspices to deal with the standardization of regulatory issues on genetically modified crops in South Africa.  The Plant Breeders Standing Committee would review this request with a recommendation to the SANSOR Board of Directors and General Assembly.