Four Seasons of Learning and Engaging Smallholder Farmers - icrisat

Washim district) in spite of conducting promotional meetings due to the following reasons: pigeonpea
intercrop with cotton was not permitted for seed certification (by the state seed certification agency),
different varieties are supplied under production management packages, and farmers were reluctant in
executing the Certified Seed production program.
In Andhra Pradesh, Foundation Seed production of Asha and PRG 158 varieties was successfully
implemented by following 300 m isolation distance between varieties in Tandur village in Ranga Reddy
district and Kodangal village in Mahaboobnagar district. Seed grower farmers were satisfied with the
outcome of their produce.
Constraints and opportunities
Pigeonpea seed delivery systems, storage and marketing in both target states (Andhra Pradesh and
Maharashtra) differ in constraints and opportunities. In Maharashtra, information was collected from
farmers during the group discussions, meetings, training sessions, and field days. The constraints to
develop an efficient seed storage, marketing and delivery system for pigeonpea were identified as lack
of storage facilities, pigeonpea seed is more vulnerable to storage grain pests, lack of drying facilities
(more relevant when harvesting coincides with unexpected rains), lack of processing, packaging, and
transport facilities, varying and inconsistent response of farmers to new varieties, and inconsistent
market price by seed industries. In Andhra Pradesh, farmers face hard time in registering and getting
their fields certified. However, farmers of this state consider selling seed as TL seed to co-farmers as an
opportunity in seed delivery systems.
Formal and informal seed sector linkages
To facilitate efficient seed production and marketing, PDKV-Akola established linkages with Maharashtra
State Seeds Corporation Limited (MSSCL) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) at Karda and Durgapura.
While in Andhra Pradesh, ANGRAU-Hyderabad established similar linkages with Andhra Pradesh
State Seeds Development Cooperation (APSSDC) and Adarsh Rythu for efficient production and seed
diffusion. The involvement of APSSDC and Andhra Pradesh State Seed Certifying Agency (APSSCA)
in roguing, inspection and selection, and certification of farmers’ seed production fields ensured
purity and quality of pigeonpea seed. In addition, the seed village concept was instilled to grow one
variety in target beneficiaries to guarantee isolation to avoid seed contamination. In Maharashtra, the
involvement of MSSCL has linked farmer groups of selected villages involved in seed production for
efficient marketing and diffusion of Certified Seed in Akola and Washim. The MSSCL function is to
monitor seed production plots, which will lead to the assurance of the procurement of seed produced
by the farmers.
Transaction costs in seed marketing
In Maharashtra, marketing of seed by individual farmer is not possible, but in Akola and Washim
districts, farmers have organized themselves into groups to carry out marketing of their seed to other
farmers. In both the districts, the government also provides seed subsidies under various schemes and
packages. In Andhra Pradesh, seed produced at the local level has the authenticity of the source of
seed, is much cheaper, is well perceived by local farmers since the varieties are adapted to the locality
and are high yielding as compared to the seed procured from outside the districts or state.
Promotion and formal recognition of informal seed sector
In Maharashtra, there is a need to strengthen informal seed sector through the approach of ‘seed village
concept’ where ‘one variety-one village’ strategy should be popularized because formal seed sector
cannot lead to supply huge quantity of quality seeds. The seed village concept will solve the problem
of the lack of quality seeds needed by the villages. However, in Andhra Pradesh, seed produced in
Progress of Phase 1
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