Buoyed by two straight years of bumper grain harvests, the government said on Thursday it would supply nearly 10% more quality seeds than the requirement this summer to ensure sowing doesn?t get adversely affected.
The government will supply 14.18 million quintal of quality seeds this summer, compared with the demand of 12.96 million quintal, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
To bring a green revolution to the high-potential eastern regions of the country, where the grain productivity level was less than a half of Punjab?s 4.2 tonne per hectare, the government renewed focus on providing high-yielding seeds at cheaper rates in the past two years, resulting in the doubling of production in Bihar and Jharkhand in 2011-12. India, the world?s second-largest grain grower, produced a record 252.56 million tonne of grains in the year through June.
With land resources remaining limited and population rising, seeds are key to raising production. Quality seed alone has the potential to increase yield by up to 25% if backed by good monsoon and other factors, such as fertilisers and pesticides. monsoon showers, after a delay in onset, are expected to advance well in the coming weeks, and the government has assured of adequate supplies of fertilisers this summer to boost sowing.
India?s seed industry is expected to grow 50% to $3 billion over the next two years, as subsidies and fresh government thrust are driving up demand to unprecedented levels, a recent industry study showed.
The country produced 35.36 million quintal seeds in 2011-12, up 7% from the requirement of 33.04 million quintal, official data showed.
Although seed supplies have remained smooth for most of the crops, the availability of quality seeds had remained a problem until recently, industry executives said. The private sector accounts for 40% of the country?s seed production, while state-run companies still play the dominant role.
Since a large chunk of seed production is still in the unorganised sector, which offers low-quality and often spurious seeds, at cheaper rates, the executives said the government needs to continue with its subsidies to promote private players. The agriculture ministry is offering subsidies for seed-related activities, including production and distribution, under various crop development programmes.