Advanta Seeds embeds sustainability into its DNA

USA - English

• USA - English

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 21, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Advanta Seeds, the UPL seed company, puts its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into action. The company promotes sustainable agriculture and focuses on delivering high-quality seeds and new technologies to support food production while facing climate change and fast population growth.

"Hunger is a daily reality for almost one billion people. The global population expects to grow by a further two billion people, precisely in those geographies where there is already food shortage as the UN reports. Advanta Seeds is focusing on farmers who need the most support to grow more nutritional food. This focus is on countries where a majority are smallholder farmers. Supporting smallholders with quality seeds is crucial for global food security," shared Bhupen, Global CEO of Advanta Seeds.

Access to Seeds Index 2019 ranked Advanta Seeds as No. 4 in South and Southeast Asia and No. 5 in the world for contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals by providing access to quality seeds and enhancing smallholder farmers' productivity. This inspired the company to embed sustainability into Advanta's DNA and to empower its employees to drive meaningful contributions to sustainability.

Advanta Seeds' parent company UPL supports sustainability and is very active in contributing to the UN SDGs as well as a signatory of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. UPL addresses the global challenges of food security, climate change and environmental degradation with a proactive and long-term sustainability strategy. Advanta Seeds contributes to the UPL sustainable strategy with a clear focus on farmers' prosperity and food security.

"Almost 80% of food in Asia, Africa, and South America is grown by smallholder farmers. We understand their challenges and their struggle with resources and a lack of knowledge to be productive. Making quality seeds and new technologies available to smallholder farmers is our mission. We understand that smallholder farmers need to increase their production, secure food for their families and provide for the communities," stated Benjamin Marolda, Global Strategic Marketing & Sales Excellence Manager for Advanta Seeds.

Responding to smallholder farmers' needs and developing climate-smart and nutritional crops are high on Advanta's sustainability agenda. To demonstrate Advanta Seeds' responsiveness to farmers' needs, the company partnered with Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT to address pressing issues for tropical corn growers.

Corn growers in tropical geographies of South America, Asia, and Africa have struggled with emerging warm pests as a result of changing biodiversity. Advanta Seeds actively responded and partnered with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT to disseminate a guide on emerging pests.

Expert presentations from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT to farmers supported a publication arranged by Advanta Seeds across Colombia and Bolivia. This allowed farmers to monitor and prepare to manage pests and insects to prevent crop infestation. Advanta Seeds aims to distribute the guide in all tropical geographies.

"Agricultural research should focus more on providing practical tools that make it easier for farmers to face phytosanitary problems impacting their yields. The collaboration with Advanta Seeds for sharing essential agricultural research results is important in helping farmers cultivate healthy crops. For the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, it is important to make available agronomy research to farmers,"shared Jairo Rodriguez CH., Research Associate, The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.

Advanta Seeds realizes that a focus on smallholder farmers, and continued support to their contributions to food security, as well as taking actions to contribute to the UN SDGs through collaborative and innovative solutions is an excellent opportunity for growth.

Advanta Seeds
Advanta Seeds is a global seed company committed to sustainable agricultural practices and enhancing farmer prosperity with high quality, hybrid seeds. As part of UPL Group, Advanta Seeds aims to delivers the quality seeds best suited for the region with excellent agronomic practices and crop protection solutions through UPL. Advanta Seeds operates in over seventy countries with our partner brands Alta Seeds and Pacific Seeds. Advanta holds a leadership position in tropical and sub-tropical geographies. Worldwide, we offer growers hybrid seeds in tropical and temperate corn, grain and forage sorghum, sunflower, canola, rice, and a variety vegetable.

SOURCE Advanta Seeds