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Studies on Policy Option for Quality Seed Production and ... - NFPCSP

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6. POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS6.1 Producti<strong>on</strong> Phase1) The farmers’ homegrown seed of rice <strong>and</strong> wheat is found to be inferior in quality compared tothat of their respective certified seed; evidently due to farmers’ insufficient knowledge <strong>on</strong> seedproducti<strong>on</strong> technology coupled with low level of input use <strong>for</strong> seed producti<strong>on</strong>. Farmers wouldthere<strong>for</strong>e need to have access to fresh foundati<strong>on</strong> seed <strong>and</strong> fertilizers at af<strong>for</strong>dable prices al<strong>on</strong>gwith appropriate training <strong>on</strong> `Modern <strong>Seed</strong> Technology` including attenti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> varietalmaintenance, roughing, fertilizer <strong>and</strong> irrigati<strong>on</strong> management, pest c<strong>on</strong>trol, seed processing <strong>and</strong>storage. This would help to sufficiently improve the quality status of their homegrown seed.2) Currently the public seed sector (BADC) could supply a small amount of quality seed of cerealcrops (rice, wheat <strong>and</strong> maize) to the farmers against their huge dem<strong>and</strong>. There<strong>for</strong>e, the seedproducti<strong>on</strong> capacity of BADC should be strengthened through proper planning. Besides, theprivate sectors should be facilitated to produce <strong>and</strong> market quality seed. With establishment oflocal storage facilities, seed cost could be reduced <strong>and</strong> this can increase the efficiency of thesystem as well. Moreover, farmers’ community level seed producti<strong>on</strong> programme should beinitiated through proper inspecti<strong>on</strong> by the <strong>Seed</strong> Certificate Agency (SCA) which would makethe quality seed more af<strong>for</strong>dable to the farmers.3) The current activities of SCA regarding quality c<strong>on</strong>trol of seed are limited due to insufficienttechnical manpower <strong>and</strong> lack of modern laboratory facilities <strong>for</strong> seed testing. The seedcertificati<strong>on</strong> system should be strengthened across the country through increasing technicalmanpower <strong>and</strong> establishing a modern seed testing laboratory at least in each District. The FieldOfficer of SCA should collect spot-samples (including TLS) of cereal seeds <strong>on</strong> a regular basisfrom the seed dealers, seed companies <strong>and</strong> local markets <strong>for</strong> testing. Based <strong>on</strong> the outcomes,legal acti<strong>on</strong> would need to be taken as per to the existing `<strong>Seed</strong> Related Acts <strong>and</strong> Rules`approved by the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure transparency <strong>and</strong> mutual benefits farmers<strong>and</strong> the private seed companies <strong>and</strong> seed traders.4) Government acti<strong>on</strong> is urgently needed towards c<strong>on</strong>trolling seed quality especially in the case ofunlawful seed disseminati<strong>on</strong> from any <strong>for</strong>eign country to Bangladesh.5) Farmers do not use the recommended dose of fertilizers <strong>for</strong> seed crop producti<strong>on</strong>. Measuresshould, there<strong>for</strong>e, be taken to mitigate farmers’ knowledge gap of seed producti<strong>on</strong> regardinguse of balanced fertilizers. Adequate training must be given to the farmers through theAgriculture Service providers <strong>and</strong> motivati<strong>on</strong>al programs like Farmers’ Day, Field Day, ICMprogram, Community level Awareness program, Community discussi<strong>on</strong>, <strong>for</strong>mati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Seed</strong>Society <strong>and</strong> Radio talk, <strong>and</strong> Televisi<strong>on</strong> program should be regularly c<strong>on</strong>ducted.6) Absolute dependence <strong>on</strong> overseas supply of hybrid maize seed is risky. There<strong>for</strong>e, theGovernment should take measures to initiate hybrid maize seed producti<strong>on</strong> programmme inadditi<strong>on</strong> to the ef<strong>for</strong>t of BARI, <strong>and</strong> seeds should readily be made available to the farmers.7) There is a tendency <strong>for</strong> the farmers to not produce grains/seeds of rice <strong>and</strong> wheat mainly due tolow market price. The computati<strong>on</strong> of producti<strong>on</strong> cost with the statistics given by farmers alsosupports this view. The high price of inputs <strong>and</strong> lack of storage facilities from the viewpoint offarmers’ socio-ec<strong>on</strong>omic c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> are seen to discourage them. Measures should there<strong>for</strong>e be107

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