Vegetable Gardens to Sustain Tsunami Recovery Effort.

OXNARD, Calif. -- At the request of AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center in Thailand, seed firm Seminis has donated nearly 70,000 packets of vegetable seed to support a tsunami recovery effort aimed at supplementing food supplies with garden-grown vegetables.

The seeds will be included in about 25,000 garden kits of farm tools, irrigation supplies, fertilizer and technical instructions destined for families in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, according to organizers at AVRDC. Although arable land is scarce in the tsunami-affected areas, vegetables can be grown successfully on small parcels. Local markets are also available for families to sell their surplus food. The kits can plant and irrigate about 100 square meters.

"Vegetable production in home gardens can generate income, diversify diets and help ensure a sustainable food supply," said Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, Director General at AVRDC, a not-for-profit agricultural institute which coordinated a similar program in Bangladesh after devastating floods in 1991.

The seed supplied by Seminis -- hot pepper, cucumber and butternut squash -- are food staples and were widely planted prior to the disaster. The varieties chosen are well adapted to tropical climates, mature relatively quickly (as few as 60 days), and continue to produce fruit over an extended time.

"Our employees were deeply affected by this tragedy and we are very proud to join the agricultural industry's rebuilding effort," said Seminis President Bruno Ferrari. "While emergency food and supplies have been effective at meeting the short-term needs of victims, highly perishable items such as vegetables have been difficult to get to tsunami-affected areas due to damaged roads and infrastructure. The best long-term solution -- one that Seminis has repeated in many regions around the world -- is to give local families and farmers the supplies and support they need to help themselves," said Mr. Ferrari.

The AVRDC's relief program is also supported by the Asia & Pacific Seed Association, International Development Enterprises, Sri Lankan Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesian Vegetable Research Institute and the Indonesian Institute of Agriculture and Agroforestry Research and Development, among others.

To donate funds to AVRDC, contact Dr. Markus Kaiser, Grant Development Officer at [e-mail].

ABOUT AVRDC - THE WORLD VEGETABLE CENTER

AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center (www.avrdc.org) is a not-for-profit international agricultural research institute founded in 1971. It works to reduce poverty and malnutrition in developing countries through improved production and consumption of vegetables.

ABOUT SEMINIS

Seminis Inc. (www.seminis.com) is the world's largest developer, producer and marketer of vegetable seeds. Its products are designed to reduce the need for agricultural chemicals, increase crop yield, reduce spoilage, offer longer shelf life, and create better tasting foods and foods with better nutritional content. Seminis has established a worldwide presence and global distribution network that spans 150 countries and territories. Most recently, Seminis donated vegetable seeds to growers in Jamaica, whose farms were destroyed by Hurricanes Charley and Ivan this past September.