Your Invitation To Belfast

Delegate List

The updated Exhibitor List and Delegate List, including on-site registration, is now available online.

Please click here to download the Exhibitor List

Please click here to download the Delegate List

Congress Photos 

Belfast, UK was delighted to host the ISF World Seed Congress 2011. It was a great pleasure for the British Society of Plant Breeders to welcome over 1400 delegates, accompanying persons, exhibitors and sponsors from 61 countries.

We hope you all had a successful and enjoyable congress.

Congress photos are now posted on Phil Smyth Photography Website

Please use the password which was sent to all delegates with the Newsletter of Wednesday 1 June and enter it in the Guest Log in field.

You are not required to enter an email address. 

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Dear Colleagues and Friends in the Seed Industry,

There has never been a more exciting time to be in agriculture in the UK. The Government has stated clearly for the first time in decades that productivity has to be at the heart of its food and farming strategy to address the challenges of global food security and climate change and the term 'sustainable intensification' is entering the language. The growing recognition that progress will come predominantly from genetic gain delivered by commercial plant breeders has shone the political spotlight on the seeds industry and our voice is being heard in high places.

All this makes 2011 a fitting time to host the ISF World Seed Congress 2011 in the UK and we are delighted to welcome you to Belfast. In Belfast, the capital of beautiful Northern Ireland you will find a small city with a big friendly heart and a well deserved reputation for hospitality. With superb meeting facilities, excellent hotel accommodation, restaurants and bars, and plenty of history and tradition, it is an ideal Congress setting for business and socialising.

Join us for a Congress to remember - be part of it.

John Gilbert Chair National Organising Committee

Penny Maplestone Chief Executive Officer British Society of Plant Breeders

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over a span of thousands of years the farmers have shaped the UK countryside in a quest to, among other things, feed the population. In the North and the West of the UK, with its rainfall and hills, the pastoral farming is primary with the wide use of permanent or low rotation grassland for livestock. The sheep breeding flock alone totalled 14.9 million in 2009. In the South and East of the country, with a drier climate and better soils, arable farming on cultivated land is predominant. About 300,000 people are engaged in farming either in a full or part time capacity and form a pivotal part of life in rural areas.

Around 18.7 million hectares are agricultural land in the UK principally divided between permanent or low rotation grassland (11.5 million hectares), woodland (1 million hectares) and land for cropping. The total crop area was 6.2 million hectares in 2009, of which 3.1 million hectares was used for cereals, mainly wheat and barley. Grass land in rotation accounted for 1.2 million hectares. The remaining crop land was divided between oilseeds, potatoes, other arable crops and horticultural crops. This makes the UK one of the biggest seeds markets in Europe with a strong wheat production characterized by attractive yields and a significant horticultural market. The market value of the domestic UK seeds market for sowing was 400 million USD in 2009; half of which was serviced by imports.

The UK plant breeders are actively crossing and selecting in agricultural and vegetable crops adapted to the maritime UK climate. Most cereal varieties grown in the UK today are resulting from the continuous research activities of UK plant breeders. And the search for improved agronomical values of plant varieties continues with a focus on international markets too.

ISF was delighted that British Society of Plant Breeders, BSPB, extended an invitation to host the ISF World Seed Congress 2011 in the UK. I have little doubt that we will enjoy a fruitful and well organized congress in the city of Belfast. Intriguingly, it will bring us back to the country of origin as FIS, one of two ancestors of ISF, was founded in London in 1924!

The agenda of the ISF World Seed Congress in Belfast offers a variety of topics in the Sections and Committees of importance for the further development of the international seeds industry. As always there will be ample space for trading and social networking. I look forward to seeing you in May 2011 in Belfast!

Truels Damsgaard President International Seed Federation