CIC Seeds breaks new ground with export of hybrid chilli seeds to Bangladesh

Following the successful production of hybrid seeds in Sri Lanka, CIC Seeds has exported a consignment of hybrid chilli seeds to Bangladesh where trials will be carried out to investigate the feasibility of its growth in the South Asian country. 

The Department of Agriculture (DOA) provided the much-needed technical support and guidance for CIC to initiate this venture. The export of hybrid seeds from Sri Lanka is the first of its kind and if proven to be successful will open the door for Sri Lanka to export hybrid seeds to Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries.

Sri Lanka is a net importer of agricultural seed. The country imports over 90% of high value hybrid Seeds to support local cultivation. The DOA, after many years of research, developed a few promising local hybrids in vegetables and maize that are comparable with imported hybrids. The DOA then invited the private seed companies in the country to join hands and undertake the Commercial seed production of these locally developed products with a view of reducing imports. CIC Seed Ltd., the premier private seed company in the country, was the first to take up this challenge and was quick in making the necessary investment and initiated a formal local hybrid seed production program. 

After building the necessary infrastructure, manpower and conducting several seasons of trials, CIC Seeds commenced a formal commercial hybrid seed production of the DOA developed hybrids Chillie ‘MICHY 01’ and Capsicum ‘Prarthana’’ three years ago in its seed farms at Pelwehera under the technical supervision of the DOA, as a public-private partnership project.

After being able to successfully produce quality hybrid seeds locally, the first private seed company to achieve this landmark in Sri Lanka – CIC Seeds commenced field programs to popularise these new hybrids among Sri Lankan farmers in order to build their confidence in local hybrid seeds. Subsequently the company commenced a commercial seed production of two DOA developed hybrids, MICHY 01 Chilli and Capsicum Prathana and distributed among the Sri Lankan farmers at competitive prices partly replacing costly imported hybrid seeds. The field performance of the hybrids was successful and with the high farmer acceptance, the company now plans to expand its seed production to meet the increasing demand since these products are more adaptable to local conditions than imported seed.

CIC Agribusiness, the leader in providing high quality Agri inputs to Sri Lankan farmers is the first private entity in the country to invest in agriculture research. A decade ago, it commissioned a fully-fledged plant breeding program in vegetable and maize crops after recruiting a couple of trained scientists. As a result of long years of R&D, its subsidiary CIC Seeds has been able to develop a few promising hybrids like chilli, brinjal and maize which are now marketed to Sri Lankan farmers in addition to several specialty rice varieties which are exported to several countries.

Building on this foundation, CIC Seed intends to actively explore opportunities to expand its footprint in the international markets in the future. The export of a smaller quantity of hybrid chilli seed is a landmark event in our long-term vision in positioning CIC not only as the trusted seed supplier in Sri Lanka but also as an emerging regional player in the seed trade.

This public-private partnership project is a testimony to demonstrate how effective collaboration between public institutions and private enterprises can be in developing the national agriculture sector if properly planned and implemented. On this momentous occasion the company would like to extend its gratitude to the Ministry of Agriculture and the DOA for all the support they provided, including technical assistance to make our journey a success.