Abstract
Seed of 6 forage species, Mulato II hybrid brachiaria ( Brachiaria ruziziensis x B. decumbens x B. brizantha ), Cayman hybrid brachiaria ( B. ruziziensis x B. decumbens x B. brizantha ), Mombasa guinea ( Panicum maximum ), Tanzania guinea ( P. maximum ), Ubon stylo ( Stylosanthes guianensis var. vulgaris x var. pauciflora ) and Ubon paspalum ( Paspalum atratum ), is currently being produced by more than 1,000 smallholder farmers in villages in northeast Thailand and northern Laos, under contract to Ubon Forage Seeds, Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand. The seed is mainly exported (95%), with the remainder sold within Thailand. Tropical Seeds LLC, a subsidiary of a Mexican seed company, Grupo Papalotla, employs Ubon Forage Seeds to manage seed production, seed sales and export, and to conduct research on new forage species. This paper details how the development of a smallholder-farmer seed-production program in Thailand and Laos produced positive social and economic outcomes for the village seed-growers. In addition, the strong emphasis on seed quality, high purity, high vigor and high germination enabled pasture growers in more than 20 tropical countries in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Central and South America, to establish more than 20,000 ha of pastures over the past 3 years.
Highlights
Seed of 6 forage species, Mulato II hybrid brachiaria (B. ruziziensis x B. decumbens x B. brizantha), Cayman www.tropicalgrasslands.info 166 M.D
In 2003, Tropical Seeds LLC made the business decision to come to Thailand to produce brachiaria hybrid seed, because of high forage seed quality, smallholder experience and professionalism in Thailand (Hare 1993) and Ubon Ratchathani University’s involvement in forage seed production (Hare and Horne 2004; Hare 2007)
There was an expectation that seed yields of brachiaria hybrids in Thailand, where agronomic management was intensive and seed was hand-harvested from small fields, might be higher than in Brazil and Mexico, where management was extensive and seed was swept from the ground in large fields
Summary
Seed of 6 forage species, Mulato II hybrid brachiaria (B. ruziziensis x B. decumbens x B. brizantha), Cayman. Tropical Seeds LLC, a subsidiary of a Mexican seed company, Grupo Papalotla, employs Ubon Forage Seeds in the Faculty of Agriculture, Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand, to manage seed production, seed sales and export, and to conduct research on existing and new forage species. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2004 between Tropical Seeds LLC and the Faculty to produce, for export, tropical forage seed in villages in northeast Thailand This Memorandum was further strengthened in 2008 and 2011, with the signing of 3-year contracts between the same parties. In 2007, Happy Farmers, an agricultural company in Laos, started producing seed of Mulato II hybrid brachiaria in northern Laos under contract to Ubon Forage Seeds and Tropical Seeds LLC. The strong emphasis on seed quality, high purity, high vigor and high germination impacted strongly on pasture development in more than 20 tropical countries in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Central and South America, enabling pasture growers to establish more than 20,000 ha of pastures over the past 3 years
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