Chalk out plan to reduce dependency on private players for seeds: Tomar to states, central bodies

Ahead of the upcoming kharif season, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday urged state governments and central institutions to chalk out a strategy to boost seed production and reduce farmers dependency on private players.

Ahead of the upcoming kharif season, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday urged state governments and central institutions to chalk out a strategy to boost seed production and reduce farmers' dependency on private players. Tomar, while addressing a conference on the government's preparedness for the kharif season, said the state governments have a bigger role in curbing the sale of fake seeds and pesticides.

The minister also stressed the need to encourage farmers to produce quality agri-crops in order to further boost the country's agri-exports, which have already reached Rs 3,00,000 crore so far. ''There is some shortage of seeds in the country. We all need to discuss how to address this gap. I want to urge state and central institutions to chalk out a strategy to meet the seed requirement,'' he said.

At present, there is heavy dependence on private players for seeds. There is a need to increase the production of seeds by public players and then only, they will be able to give direction and have influence over the seed market, he added.

On the sale of fake seeds and pesticides, the minister said many complaints have been received in this regard, but the state governments have a bigger role to play in curbing the sale of these two products.

Besides ensuring quality seeds and pesticides, Tomar said there is a need to promote the balanced use of fertilisers and encourage the use of NPK and nano fertilisers. The state governments should also plan a strategy for promoting organic and natural farming methods in order to sustain food security in times of supply disruption in the import of chemical fertilisers, he said. Speaking on the occasion, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said the Met department has forecast a normal monsoon for the fourth consecutive year, which should augur well for achieving better farm growth this year.

There will not be any problem in fertiliser availability in the upcoming kharif season. However, the state governments should do micro-planning, he said.

Ahuja asked state governments to focus on addressing yield gaps in oilseeds crops and export clusters with the necessary infrastructure to facilitate farmers.

Agriculture Commissioner AK Singh said the government has kept a target of 163.15 million tonne of foodgrains production in the kharif season of 2022-23 crop year (July-June).

More production in oilseeds is possible if yield gaps are addressed. States like Karnataka need to increase the area under sunflower, which has declined to 2.26 lakh hectare in 2020-21 from 26.68 lakh hectare in 1993-94, he said. Replacing old rice varieties with the latest ones can help increase the production of rice in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, he added.