Hot Topics
ARTHUR SANTOSH ATTAVAR
President
Arthur Santosh Attavar was elected President of ISF in May 2024. Before his election as ISF President, Attavar served a two-year term as ISF Vice-President (2022–2024) and chaired ISF’s Task Force for the United Nations Food Systems Summit in 2021.
Attavar is the Chairman and Managing Director of Indo-American Hybrid Seeds (India) Pvt. Ltd. based in Bangalore, India, which he joined in 1997. He holds a degree in Plant Sciences (Horticulture) from Utah State University. Before joining Indo-American Hybrid Seeds, he worked for seed companies in the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica, focusing on seed production and quality control of high-value vegetable seeds and flower seeds.
Attavar is based in Bangalore, India.
LORENA BASSO
Vice-President
Lorena Basso was elected Vice-President of ISF in May 2024, after serving as Second Vice-President in 2022-2024.
Basso is currently the CEO of Basso Semillas, a family-owned business in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Having completed her MBA prior, she joined the family company as the commercial director in 2000 and has served as CEO since 2011. Basso was also the first female president of the Argentinian Seed Association (ASA) and the regional Association, Seed Association of the Americas (SAA).
Basso is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ellen Sparry
2nd Vice-President
Ellen Sparry was elected 2nd Vice-President in May 2025. She is a longstanding member of the ISF Board of Directors, having previously led the Field Crops Section (today the FIeld Crops Advisory Group) for many years. She currently sits on the Board as a representative of Canada.
Ellen has a background in plant agriculture and breeding, and is the General Manager of C&M Seeds, a role she has held since 2015 after first joining the company as Genetics Manager in 1994. She was the first President of Seeds Canada, and continues to sit on its Executive Committee.
Ellen is based in Ontario, Canada.
BERT JAN VAN DINTER
Treasurer
Bert-Jan van Dinter was elected treasurer of ISF in 2024. He also represents the Dutch National Seed Association, Plantum, on the ISF Board of Directors.
Van Dinter is the Managing Director of Vandinter Semo, a company he took over in 2014 and expanded. The company was founded in 1914 as a seed production company. As of January 2024, Vandinter Semo is a daughter company of Cérience.
Van Dinter holds a degree in horticulture and has vast experience in seed production and sales, focused on grasses, grains and maize seeds. He is based in the Netherlands.
Hamdi Çiftçiler
(Ordinary Member)
Hamdi Çiftçiler represents Ordinary Members in the ISF Executive Committee.
Çiftçiler is currently co-president of May Seed in Türkiye, where he is also based.
MARC COOL
(Associate Member)
Marc Cool is
Marc Cool represents Associate Members in the ISF Executive Committee.
Marc Cool is a fifth-generation seedsman who attended the Agricultural University of Wageningen in the Netherlands, where he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Plant Breeding and Plant Pathology.
He works for Corteva Agriscience‘s Public Affairs group, leading global seed policy development, supporting the Seed Portfolios and leading the company engagements with global seed trade associations.