Hybrids

Hybrids

Afrisem breeds hybrids, because we believe that hybrids have many favorable qualities, e.g.

Higher yields
Higher farmers' income
Less use of pesticides
Natural plant rights protection

Hybrid vegetable seeds are claimed to have a very important and accelerating role in rural development. During the latest International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) symposium "Socio-economic impact of Modern Vegetable Production in Tropical Asia" in Chang Mai, Thailand (February 2008), this was one of the conclusions.

Also experiences of Tropical Asia show this. For example, hybrid penetration of tomato in Indonesia is almost 100%, while 25 years only OP tomato varieties were used. in East-Africa, tomato hybrid penetration is still less than 1%.
Hybrid vegetable seeds will play an important role in the near future. We assume that the Green Revolution in Africa will mirror the Asian situation.

Besides higher farmers' incomes, stronger hybrid seeds result in decreased use of pesticides, higher output per area and thus are better for the ecological environment.
Also from a business perspective hybrid seeds possess a natural protection against piracy and investments in necessary long-term research will guarantee continuation.

Afrisem uses different breeding techniques, but no genetically modified organisms (GMO's). We believe that at this point there is no necessity to breed and market GMO's.