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

STUDIES ON POLICY OPTION FOR QUALITY SEED PRODUCTION ANDPRESERVATION OF CEREAL CROPS AT FARMERS’ LEVEL FOR THEIMPROVEMENT OF FOOD SECURITY1. INTRODUCTIONIn agriculture, seed is a vehicle to deliver almost all agro-based technological innovations so that thefarmers can exploit the genetic potential of new varieties. The availability, access and use of seed ofadaptable varieties are, therefore, the major determinants to attain the efficiency and productivity ofother packages like irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides. This is one of the vital keys to increase cropproduction, enhance food security and alleviate rural poverty in the developing countries.For the seed to play a catalytic role, it should reach the farmers in a good state with high genetic purityand identity together with sound physical, physiological and health quality. In contrast to fertilizers andpesticides, farmers select and save seed to plant in the next season, and any off-farm seed from theformal sector should also be of better quality for the farmers to invest in it. Therefore, the bestproduction techniques need to be followed to produce good quality seed.Food availability is one of the three conditions of food security, the other two conditions being accessand utilization. The domestic production of cereal food crops is crucial in ensuring food availability atboth national and household levels. Efforts should therefore be made to boost the yield and productionof cereal crops in order to ensure food security in Bangladesh (Rahman and Khan, 2005).Good seed alone can maximize yield to the extent of 20-25%. Availability of quality seed is the mainobstacle to increase crop production in Bangladesh. If the seed is capable of giving higher yield, thenthe use of other inputs like fertilizers, water and pesticides becomes fruitful; otherwise, any input usebecomes wasteful (Huda, 2001). The use of quality seed can contribute significantly to increase yieldand production, in filling up the gap between the requirement and availability of every day’s foodintake. The production of quality seed is thus very important and that is why the Government ofBangladesh has recently given the seed sector a `Topmost Priority’ status.The seed industry in Bangladesh comprises both public and private sector initiatives. Among the cerealcrops rice, wheat and maize together play a vital role in maintaining food security and hence, theeconomy of the country. The annual seed demand for each of these three crops is about 313.96, 72.00and 3.30 thousand tons, respectively but the public sectors can meet up only 23.67, 26.46 and 7.06%,respectively (MoA, 2006). Besides, t here are many seed merchants in the country who collect seedsfrom different sources to sell out to farmers. With respect to quality, their seeds are not fully reliable.As there is almost no other alternative, many farmers continue to buy seeds from these merchants thateventually cause poor yield or in some cases end up with total crop failure. That is why most of thefarmers keep a portion of their produce to be used as `seed’ because it is easily available to them in timeand in sufficient quantity with `almost no extra cost’. These seeds, however, are usually of inferiorquality. It is estimated that using this type of bad quality seed of both rice and wheat incurs a loss of Tk.8.36 billion annually, because of poor yielding ability. Huda (2001) strongly opines that the use of good1