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Abstract
In 1973, the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) was established to help meet the nutritional needs of half of humanity through plant breeding and the development of associated technologies. As part of the jubilee celebrations in 2023, we publish this commemorative booklet to provide a glimpse into AVRDC’s establishment and evolution through five decades, including its transformation into the truly global World Vegetable Center in 2007 – or WorldVeg as we better know the organization today. Over all those years, we have been ‘sowing seeds and meeting needs’ of an ever-increasing number of the world’s population. Seed has always been our core business. We are proud to be the custodians of the largest publicly available collection of vegetable seed in the world, and that our breeding programs have resulted in many hundreds of new varieties of dozens of crops that are now grown over millions of hectares, for the benefit of millions of smallholder producers and consumers alike. We have also been sowing seeds of knowledge – knowledge about how to safely turn seeds into nutritious vegetables, how to get better yields and throughout the year, how to reduce postharvest losses, and how to reduce the environmental footprint of the vegetable sector. In ‘meeting needs’, we refer to the needs of people for safer and healthier diets, income opportunities for farmers, youth and women working along vegetable value chains, for healthier soils, more resilient farming systems, and a healthier environment for all. We have had tremendous impact with our new varieties, production and postharvest technologies, working in partnerships and strengthening capacities, in particular in Africa and Asia. More and more, we are also placing our work in a food systems context, with adequate attention given to demand and policy considerations.