S&W Seed: Introduction of the world's first tropical disease resistant alfalfa seed.
By Ian Gilson, PhD, CFA
S&W Seed ( Nasdaq-small:SANW) has announced that a new strain of alfalfa, RD 132, has entered third party testing for traits suitable for growing alfalfa in tropical climates. At this time there is no crop that offers the productivity of alfalfa that is grown in tropical climes so this is a new potential revenue stream for the company.
Developed by Seed Genetics, starting in 2008, RD 132 has been tested by Seed Genetics and S&W Seed in the tropical areas in N. Australia. It is one of four candidates that have been grown and tested for disease resistance in tropical climates and RD 132 is the most advanced. Testing will proceed for 10 months and the seed will then be introduced into the market place. We would not expect a significant amount of revenue from this variety before fiscal 2016. This will give S&W Seed time to set up a sales organization in Central America, equatorial Africa and SE Asia.
Few leguminous and fodder varieties grow in the tropics (rice is too important to be fed to cattle) and there is a need for a seed to grow high quality and productive crops such as alfalfa.
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