Sacta levy supports new cultivar development in seed industry

By Magda du Toit | 13 September 2024 | 7:00 am

The South African Cultivar and Technology Agency (Sacta) is driving new cultivar development in the seed industry through its breeding and technology levy, which supports innovation and growth across the value chain.

From left: Deon van Rooyen, Sacta chairperson; Hendrik van Staden, Syngenta Seeds Business Unit Head in sub-Saharan Africa; and Andries Theron, wheat farmer. Photo: Magda du Toit

Speaking at a Agri in Conversation panel discussion at Nampo Cape, Deon van Rooyen, Chairperson of Sacta, said that the organisation was d in 2016 to collect and administer breeding and technology levies for self-pollinated crops in South Africa.

“Our main aim is to advance the breeding of grains and oil seeds by collecting levies at the first point of sale or delivery and distributing these funds to seed companies and plant breeder rights holders,” he said.

“Sacta was not linked to a specific commodity, and addressed only the need to advance breeding of self-pollinated grain and oil seeds by collecting a levy at the first point of sale or delivery, and by paying breeding and technology levies to seed companies and plant breeder rights’ holders based on estimated market shares,” he said.

Andrew Bennett, CEO of Sacta, said the breeding and technology levy should be seen as a method to drive innovation in the value chain and an investment into the sustainability of the grain market in South Africa.

“It is aimed at driving farmer profits and crop productivity. The system is benefitting the entire value chain by giving the farmer new germplasm and technology, and seed suppliers are receiving an income to reinvest in breeding, and the downstream value chain is benefitting from

improved grain and more local material. With new varieties and technology, local producers are now better equipped to compete with farmers in other world production areas,” Bennett said.

Some 75% of the collected fees are ploughed back into the seed industry by way of dividing the funds to the germplasm and technology owners in accordance with their market share.

General benefits of the levy:

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Maintain competitiveness of the cereal market;

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Renewed investments into the local industry infrastructure by multinational as well as local seed business companies; and

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Local breeding programmes now have better access to international breeding material.

According to Bennett, during the 2023/24 financial year more than R245 million was collected by Sacta through the breeding and technology levy.

The levy is applicable to wheat, barley, oats, soya beans and lupins.

Bennett mentioned that R169,25 million was collected through the levy on soya beans, while the levy on wheat brought in R63,64 million. The figures for barley and oats amounted to R12,18 million and R680 000, respectively.

Bennett pointed out that since 2018 a number of new varieties were registered, some of which were already commercially available. “

It is important to note that some of the new products were submitted for registration and are not yet commercially available, while others are still in the testing phase.”

New technology has also been introduced to the market. In 2018, Intacta Roundup Ready 2 PRO and Conkesta E3 were approved and currently trials are being conducted for the application of HB4 Soya technology.

Hendrik van Staden, Syngenta Seeds Business Unit Head in sub-Saharan Africa, said another benefit is the fact that there are more role players in the market.

“In a way this puts pressure on companies to ensure that our products not only comply with quality standards, but also address specific market needs. Competition in the market is always a good thing. It keeps us on our toes, and this is to the benefit of farmers and the industry as a whole,” he said.