Asia: Indonesia and the Netherlands Launch a Strategic Seed Partnership with Potato Trials at Its Core
Indonesia and the Netherlands have officially launched the Indonesia–Netherlands Strategic Seed Sector Working Group, a platform that brings together government bodies, businesses and knowledge institutions from both countries to improve farmers’ access to high-quality seed, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture’s foreign network Agroberichten Buitenland reported on 15 October.
The working group was co-chaired by Dr. Mochamad Saleh Nugrahadi of Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs and Ester Kruk, Agriculture Counselor at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its agenda covers variety registration, seed quality assurance, phytosanitary procedures, market access, plant breeders’ rights and capacity development.
Potatoes feature prominently in the cooperation. The launch sits within a broader project running from January 2026 to June 2027, implemented by SeedNL and Wageningen University & Research, which includes demonstrations and trials of vegetable and potato varieties from Dutch seed companies. Participating companies include HZPC, Rijk Zwaan, Bejo and East-West Seed Indonesia, alongside Indonesian partners such as the Herbal and Horticulture Science and Technology Park (TSTH2) in North Sumatra. During the launch programme, delegates visited the potato breeding greenhouse of PT Indofood in Humbang Hasunduta, North Sumatra, and a local food estate earmarked for seed variety field testing.
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A central deliverable will be a joint Seed Sector Roadmap. According to the ministry, the roadmap will map the current state of Indonesia’s seed sector, set out ambitions for the next ten years and define strategic steps for the short, medium and long term, with a focus on the vegetable and potato sectors where Dutch expertise is most relevant. Consultations with stakeholders in Jakarta and North Sumatra were scheduled for October 2026; an initial draft of the roadmap is due in January 2027, with the final document expected in March–April 2027.
Indonesia has an extensive legal framework for seeds, the ministry notes, but lacks an integrated policy to coordinate the development of the sector as a whole — a gap the roadmap is designed to fill. The country produced about 1.27 million tonnes of potatoes in the most recent season, with Java accounting for roughly two thirds of output, and yields have been stagnating, which makes access to better varieties a practical priority for growers.
For the potato industry, the working group offers Dutch breeding companies a structured route into Indonesian variety registration and trialling, while Indonesian growers stand to get faster access to varieties tested under local conditions. The field trials are scheduled to run in parallel with the roadmap work through 2027.
Sources: Agroberichten Buitenland (Dutch Ministry of Agriculture); SeedQuest.
