Four Members Complete ETS Audits

The Global Stewardship Group congratulates the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), QualiBasic Seed Company, and China National Seed Group Co. on the successful completion of their Excellence Through Stewardship program audits. It is the first audit completion for IAR and CSIR-SARI.

IAR was established in 1922 as the Research Division of the Northern Nigeria Ministry of Agriculture. Their stated goal is to serve as a center of excellence for sustainable, affordable, efficient and easily adoptable technologies to enhance farm productivity and product utilization in Nigeria. The national mandate includes development and evaluation of improved crop varieties and technology, and genetic improvement of cowpea, cotton, groundnut, maize, sorghum, castor, jatropha, sunflower and artemisia.

CSIR-SARI’s mandate is to provide farmers in the Northern, North East, Savannah, Upper East, and Upper West Regions of Ghana with appropriate technologies to increase their food and fiber crop production based on a sustainable production system. The crops covered in its research mandate include sorghum, millet, rice, maize, fonio, cowpea, groundnuts, soybean, Bambara groundnuts, pigeon pea, yam, cassava, sweet and frafra potatoes, cotton, and vegetables. Their vision is to become a leading research and development institution by making agricultural research responsive to farmer needs and national development.

QualiBasic Seeds is an early-generation seed company focused on providing high-quality foundation seed to support Africa’s growing seed sector. The company works closely with plant breeders, research institutions, and local seed producers to ensure that improved maize and other crop varieties are multiplied with genetic purity and strong agronomic performance. By strengthening seed systems and offering reliable, professionally produced early-generation seed, QualiBasic Seeds helps commercial seed companies deliver better products to farmers, ultimately contributing to higher yields, greater resilience, and improved food security across the region.

China National Seed Group Co. is China’s first national-level seed enterprise, established in 1978 on the basis of the former Seed Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture.  Over decades it has grown into a major state-owned seed-industry group, now a subsidiary of Sinochem Group, with an integrated chain covering crop breeding, seed production and processing, marketing, and technical services.  Its seed portfolio spans China’s staple crops, including rice, corn, wheat, vegetables, and oil-bearing crops. Through its in-house R&D platform the company aims to advance modern breeding technologies to develop high-yield, resilient, and environmentally adapted seed varieties.