A Regional Regulatory Workshop on Biopesticide and Pesticide Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) brought together twenty regulatory officers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. The event that takes place from 3-5 April 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand, aims to build their expertise and skills in the development and harmonization of biopesticide and pesticide regulations, which will address international agricultural trade issues in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and South Asia.

The workshop is organized in the context of the project on Asia Pesticide Residue Mitigation through the Promotion of Biopesticides and Enhancement of Trade Opportunities funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), and implemented by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), Bangkok, Thailand, in partnership with Ag Aligned Global, and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The project is addressing the issues related to limited harmonization of requirements for the registration of biopesticides in Asia. The differences in regulatory landscapes across the region have made it challenging for companies to seek registration. In some cases, there is lack of harmonization and in others, biopesticides are not given a separate regulatory track and follow a more complex systems utilized for conventional chemistry.

The use of biopesticides, particularly for late-season pests, has the potential to minimise pesticide residue levels in harvested produce, thereby mitigating residue violations in export markets, and promoting trade.

“Efforts need to be made to increase the rate of regulatory approval and commercialisation of this relatively nascent pest-control technology,” Jason Sandahl, Ag Aligned Global.  

The development of effective regulatory guidelines can facilitate increased biopesticide approval by regulators, and hence promote greater registration and commercial adoption of these products. Developing harmonized regulatory standards between Asian countries will enable them to benefit from reciprocal acceptance of generated registration data, or registrations concluded elsewhere. Furthermore, this would enhance biopesticide product registration and use, while mitigating chemical pesticide residues and promoting trade.

“Expanding the use of safer and effective pest-control tools helps farmers protect their valuable crops, minimizes occupational risks, increases yields and quality, promotes international trade, and ensures a nutritious food supply,” Luis Suguiyama, International Consultant, USDA/Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS).

By blending technical and functional (soft) capacity development of biopesticide and pesticide regulators, the workshop is also promoting innovation and collaboration in biopesticides commercialization and agricultural trade enhancement in the region.  Development of public-private partnerships and South-South Cooperation of the country partners are particularly crucial for addressing how participating countries establish and adopt pesticide MRLs and implement national pesticide residue monitoring programmes. APAARI is committed to carry this forward for the benefit of its members even beyond the project period.

“An effective registration process is a prerequisite to attract the private sector in biopesticide development,” Ravi Khetarpal, Executive Secretary, APAARI.

The workshop is building on previous ASEAN regulatory initiatives, as well as ASEAN Guidelines on the Regulation, Use, and Trade of Biological Control Agents (BCA), STDF’s Good Regulatory Practices (GRP), and the Regional BCA Expert Working Groups on Application and Regulation.

“We need to ensure that SPS measures are developed and implemented under good regulatory practices (GRPs) to increase transparency and keep transaction costs as low as possible,” Marlynne Hopper, Deputy Head, STDF.

The status of biopesticide regulatory development in the participating countries has been assessed and presented in the workshop in line with the East Asia Biopesticide Guidelines. The participants also shared some of the most important regulatory needs of their countries, seeking further support in this area from donors. Regulatory discussions were linked with their national Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes to ensure alignment and synergies.

“USDA/FAS will continue its efforts to mitigate residues by coordinating MRL and SPS-related activities and strengthening institutional capacities of Asian countries and their governments,” Jessica Mudjitaba-Fernandez, Global Programs USDA/FAS. “These initiatives promote climate-resilient agricultural systems that address climate change adoption and mitigation”.

As a way forward, the experts urged the participants to follow the common regional regulatory standards that can increase approval rate of biopesticides, support farmers, and enhance trade.

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On 24-25 January 2023, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) brought together women farmers from nine districts of Gujarat and agro-climatic zones, researchers, academia, and market actors from Gujarat State of India, to deliberate on the ways to address hunger and food security in the context of climate risks, by bringing back the ‘forgotten food’

The research that is part of the co-design stage of the Collective Action on Forgotten Food supported by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR), moved to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. From 30-31 January 2023, local farmers engaged in discussions on how to bring back the food crops they lost.

“The decrease in consumption of food varieties has led to an increased number of forgotten foods in Tamil Nadu,” said Dr. A. Nirmalakumari, Professor, Plant Breeding (Millets), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), during the Workshop on the Co-design of the Programme on Forgotten Foods with farmers in Tamil Nadu.

The state grows five major types of forgotten foods, including: (i) cereals (apart from rice and wheat); (ii) pulses (apart from red gram and black gram); (iii) tubers, second most important crop next to meat; (iv) climbers (apart from beans and avarai); and (v) cucurbits (water vegetables). The factors that influence food consumption in this area are the crop season, time of harvest, ways of cooking, and time of consumption. Forgotten foods help mainly during drought seasons, and women play a major role in their conservation.

The workshop participants from Tamil Nadu worked in four different groups of farmers based on the landscape that they belong to and their gender. These landscape divisions included farmers from ecosystems, such as hills, rainfed, river and coastal areas.

Firstly, the participants worked on identifying their preferred forgotten food and how they are being used, based on which they developed a catalogue on priority forgotten foods. The outcome was a collection of all forgotten food crops, such as cereals, pulses, greens, vegetables, fruits and animal foods, as well as recipes. The participants jointly categorised and catalogued these priority foods, marking the rare and forgotten food. This fed into further discussions around the value chains related to these priority foods.

Learning from ancestors helps in retaining and bringing back the forgotten food crops

“The decreasing knowledge of traditional foods among younger generation, especially in the context of climate change, is becoming an issue,” said Mr. Pius Rance, Executive Director, North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), Meghalaya, India.

Therefore, traditional knowledge on forgotten foods, as well as on climate change and nutrition, has to be collected from farmers and transferred to younger generations. It needs to be supported by science and technology, and brought back to the communities and value chain.

The world’s population only uses 30 per cent of its edible plants

Prof. D. Narasimhan, Member, State Biodiversity Board, Tamil Nadu on ‘Forgotten Foods-Status and Concern’, delivered a special lecture to the farmers. Explaining the history of agriculture since it developed 12,000 years ago, he emphasized its evolution from hunting and gathering towards crop cultivation to produce food. “Agriculture has reduced the diversity of the crops,” said Prof. Narasimhan.

The Earth has nearly 10,000 edible plants, of which people use almost 3,000, with only 150 cultivated species. Rice and maize alone supplies 60 per cent of global foods. Factors that lead to forgotten crops include lack of knowledge on greens and their processing methods, which have decreased the greens’ diversity.  

Market and value chains determine knowledge and diversity of food crops. Local foods, such Palmyrah, has more than 800 uses, such as the fruit panampazham and the tuber panang kizhangu.,”

2023 – International year of millets

Dr Nirmala Kumari, Former Head, Centre of Excellence on Millets, TNAU,  also delivered a special lecture focused on seed production, especially of millets and their availability. New varieties of millet, such as the white ragi, are in the pipeline in the Athiyandal Millet Research Station of TNAU.

The main benefits of millets are that they are nutritious, require less water and fertilizers, and are suitable for organic farming. Important cultivars of millets include, e.g. pearl millet, ragi, samai, thinai, pani varagu, varagu and kuthiraivaali.

Root exudates from millets promote growth of other crops, which also makes them suitable and beneficial for intercropping. The biggest challenge of millet production is marketing, quality through community seed banks, and its intensification.

Tribal people and forgotten foods

Mr. Girigan Gopi, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Community Agrobiodiversity Centre (CABC), Kerala, shared the role and experiences of tribal people in the conservation of forgotten crops. In Wayanad, Kerala, tribal people dwell inside the forest and collect about 60 wild varieties of edible green leaves, and 40 varieties of fruits, in addition to eggs, diverse mushrooms and honey.

However, these tribal people now cannot enter the forest as before, due to degradation and entry restrictions. Traditional crops, such as paddy, are decreasing because of non-profitability and lack of interest among the younger generation. Hence, the area relies on rice import from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Rice fields are being converted into banana plantations, creating socio-economic problems. Cultivation of traditional varieties decined from 80 to 12 per cent between1980 and 2000. Important rice in Wayanad includes Navara rice, known for treating arthiritis, and Kanthagasala rice, known for its aroma, which is resistant to pests and diseases, as well drought and floods.

CABC-MSSRF has collected over 35 varieties of traditional seeds, which is conserved at the germplasm bank, MSSRF, Chennai. Seed exchange amongst local villagers is promoted through seed festivals (melas). An alternative seed system has also been created through Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Government of India, with supported participatory yield enhancement trials.

In Gujarat, India, tribal people cultivate millets, such as Ragi and some exotic fruits, but they lack the market where to sell their produce. The key forgotten crops are cholam and sorghum. The Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA) supports farmer training in production, value addition and marketing, including related to millets.

“When organic practices, technology use and community engagement is combined, millet production brings up good productivity,” said Mr. R. Sivalingam, Lead Farmer from Dharmapuri region,   emphaising the importance of community farming in millet production.

The team of researchers, working in the context of the Collective Action on Forgotten Food supported by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR), held various local consultations with Indian farmers, including in Koraput District of the Indian state of Odisha.

The consultations are part of the co-design stage of a full programme design on forgotten food, involving a diverse set of actors, including farmers themselves, as envisioned in the Global Manifesto on Forgotten Food.  During the consultations in Koraput, Odisha, held on 18-19 January 2023, the team of researchers validated the original recommendations of the farmers that remain very relevant and will be considered in the full programme design. These prioritized species will be identified through a mapping of suitable landscapes and existing knowledge in Eastern India.

In this context, the team considers to identify forgotten food crops and related technologies used for their cultivation for each ecosystem and geography. As such, three to five species for each ecosystem will be prioritized based on the strengths and weaknesses of their entire value chain. The research methodology will be based on evaluation of the diversity within these prioritized species, taking into consideration local agroecology practices, protocols, and standards, as well as the different cropping systems. This will enable the partners in the collective action to identify ways for reducing drudgery and help the communities transform their pathways towards a new food system.

During their research, the team documented traditional farming techniques, and local knowledge of seeds, grain and food. This will feed into the creation of community seed banks to help develop local markets and promote consumption of forgotten food. Part of the documentation process involves identification of various policy influences on food systems and the system resilience towards forgotten food.

During the consultation, the researchers mapped the priority neglected and under-utilized species (NUS)/forgotten food crops, the reasons and strategies for their cultivation, as well as their existing innovations and good practices. The table below provides examples of NUS/forgotten food and crops identified by the team.

Examples of forgotten food and crops, and their attributes

The researchers also mapped the existing innovations developed in collaboration of farmers and researchers. This process provided opportunities to identify the facilitating factors, as well as barriers in the implementation of such innovations.

The mapping exercise during the workshop attended by 65 people, also included farmers’ prioritized research areas in forgotten foods, existing market linkages and partnerships with government, private, and research and development (R&D) agencies. Furthermore, the assessment listed opportunities for forgotten crops and related threats. Existing capacities and strategies of partners at local, state, national and international levels were also assessed.

The team is now consolidating research findings, also from other parts of India, i.e. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Meghalaya, which will be part of a study report to guide the full programme design.

The stakeholders consultation kicked off on January 18 at the Biju Patnaik Tribal Agrobiodiversity Centre in Odisha, discussing the co-design of the Collective Action on Forgotten Food in India, with the active participation of farmers from Koraput, Malkangiri, and Rayagada, as well as key local and national partners. M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India, hosted the two-day stakeholder consultation in partnership with the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR), Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), North East Slow Food & Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN), and other national and international organizations/agencies. The aim of the consultation was to engage key stakeholders in the development of a roadmap for collective action under the Common Agenda for Forgotten Foods in India.