REPORT OF THE SEED REVIEW TEAM ESTABLISHED TO REVIEW AND EVALUATE SEED INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.

Proj purpose is to devel a corps of trained seed technicians & to promote effective legislatn & organizational procedures which stimulate private sector (PS) to devel Brazil"s seed industry. Eval meth based on interviews with Mississippi State Univ (MSU) contractor staff, Govt of Brazil (GOB) personnel, and on-site observatns. Although not all proj objectives have been met, review team feels MSU has provided competent staff, and adequate seed processing facilities & equipmt. MSU activities have stimulated improvemts in nat"l & state laws such as: the passage of the nat"l Federal Seed Law; publicatn of seeds & seedlings mrkt inspectn regulatns & SI standards; establishmt of a nat"l SI policy & 8 seed testing labs; and funding provisns for states signing seed agreemts. MSU has designed & helped equip seed testing, processing, and storage facilities at 24 proj sites. Fourteen PS seed producers have been registered. Forty-four coops & 15 PS companies have emerged & are engaged in seed grain productn in Rio Grande do Sul. Short courses, many types of traveling & local seminars, and academic training at both MSU & Brazil"s ESALQ have been offered. Seed multiplicatn & distributn programs have been devel in 5 states & at govt institutns. Also, seed research has been conducted on germinatn, storage probs, and devel of an herbarium of crops & weed species. One of the greatest probs is lack of funding for GOB"s SI. Further improvemts would result if: (1) linkages between PS manufactures of seed dryers, processors, and lab equipmt were established; (2) agribusiness credit were improved; (3) seed mrkts were expanded; (4) consumer mrkt preference studies were made; (5) all aspects of SI admin, coordinatn, policy, mrkt, etc, were improved; (6) cost effective studies were made; (7) public was informed on seed improvemt benefits; (8) closer supervisn & regulatn of SI"s productn, research, etc, were made; and (9) improved multiplicatn & distributn were based on regional conditns.