RANJIT, farmer, Ghaziabad, Uttar PradeshIt's been one long harvest of despair for Ranjit. The brinjal seeds he procured from the block development office six months ago have yielded no crop. It was the same with chillies last year and tomato the year before. And as the small farmer from Uttar Pradesh sits perplexed, his losses keep mounting. The figure for this season alone: Rs 50,000.Like Ranjit, there are millions of farmers in the country who source their seeds - wheat, paddy, vegetables, pulses - from the government's vast network of agencies. It's part of the government's efforts "to give food production a boost". But a recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) has pointed to quite the contrary.Endorsing Malthusian fears over the slipping rate of food production - the production of foodgrains has dropped from 199.3 million tonnes in 1996-97 to 194.1 million tonnes this year - the report has come down heavily on the Agriculture Ministry for supplying farmers with old varieties of seeds, often substandard in quality.The National Seeds Corporation (NSC), the central agency for distribution of seeds, put out 31,000 quintals of certified seeds this year. Also responsible are state seeds corporations. But the CAG report states that a good percentage of the seeds distributed across the country have been found to be old and spurious. "Tomatoes, chillies and now brinjals - all my crops are failing because of bad seeds." Ranji, farmer, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh"It's only in agricultural universities and kisan melas that the farmers can be rest assured of the quality of seeds they get," says food policy analyst Devinder Sharma of the Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) too admits that current yield levels can be doubled if new varieties of seeds are used.So, why are they not being used? The Indian seed industry comprises two national corporations, 13 state corporations, anywhere between 150-300 private seed companies, 19 certification agencies and 63 quality control laboratories; a mammoth network which should have made seed supply a smooth affair. "Far from it," says Sharma. "Seed supply is a very murky business today." In fact, in a review of the various seed-supply programmes the government undertook between 1992-97 in over 20 states, the CAG found some jarring discrepancies. Among them:A sum of Rs 413 crore was spent on procuring new, high-yield seeds but 36-90 per cent of the seeds distributed were of varieties as old as 10-25 years.Production of foundation seeds - the second step in multiplying breeder seeds - was not enough. The benchmark: if you have a certain number of breeder seeds, there is a certain minimum of foundation seeds that can be generated from them. That was not met.Production of certified seeds by the NSC fell short of targets by 72 per cent in major crops.Demonstration programmes for farmers were conducted using older technology at a cost of Rs 6.45 crore.Seed villages - special villages earmarked for total seed production- in five states witnessed a shortfall ranging from 39-84 per cent in the production of certified seeds.On the face of it, the production of seeds is a simple, three-stage process. The nucleus seed - the original seed developed by a particular breeder - is sent to ICAR to grow what it calls the breeder seed. This in turn is handed over to the NSC which produces the foundation seeds and finally certifies them for use by the farmer..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Stunted growthUse of old seeds: Farmers use obsolete varieties when hundreds of new, improved strains are available. This, because they are supplied with such seeds or they are wary of change themselves.Lack of stringent quality control: A good percentage of the seeds distributed are found to be substandard.Pilferage in the system: Good varieties of seeds are often siphoned off to private agencies or to individual farmers.Too vast a network: A centralised system of production and supply has ignored the local needs of the farmer. Seems simple enough. The problem arises, says S.P. Tewari, assistant director-general of the ICAR, when farmers themselves demand old varieties. He explains that the entire process is driven by demand or indents for particular varieties. So, if the indents are for obsolete varieties, there is no option but to supply them. No wonder then that the CAG too found that some state governments had been asking for breeder varieties evolved some 12-28 years ago. In an analysis of breeder-seed demands between 1995-97, it found that more than 50 per cent of the wheat seeds indented were of 1969-85 vintage. The same was the case with paddy. With groundnut, the figure was as high as 77 per cent."The point is farmers are reluctant to use new varieties without thorough prior testing," explains S.K. Sinha, former director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). Some farmers say they prefer older varieties because they turn out more reliable, even require less pesticides. "Villages in Bihar and Orissa are not even exposed to the latest varieties." In fact, HD 2329, a strain of wheat developed by IARI 12 years ago, is still seen growing over millions of hectares in north India. This, despite a warning by scientists that the particular variety is susceptible to disease and needs to be replaced. But why is the Government continuing to accept outdated indents? "The fact that farmers are not open to change is obviously not reason enough," says a senior official of the Agriculture Ministry hinting at pilferage in the system. According to him, good seeds are being siphoned off to private seed companies or individual farmers. In addition, demands vary all the time. As Deepika Padda, managing director of the NSC, points out, there are years when seed production is doubled but still isn't sufficient. There are also years when the production goes surplus. Click here to EnlargeFor instance, at the ICAR, 2,822.6 tonnes of a variety of breeder seeds were produced this year. Roughly, this was 500 tonnes more than the actual demand. Experience with government schemes has been so bitter that some farmers have learnt to fend for themselves. Dar-ban Singh Negi, for instance, is a happier man today.While his less-fortunate friends in the Garhwal hills continue to depend on government seeds, Negi has gone in for organic farming. He is now self-sufficient and uses seeds - potato, wheat, rice and ginger - he produces on his own. His question is basic: "How can the government possibly expect seeds imported from a foreign country to grow in a place like Garhwal?"The government bodies see it differently. "Ours is a very liberalised scheme," explains Tewari, "under which the best seed varieties can be procured from anywhere in the world." In fact, the government even revised the National Policy on Seed Development in 1988 so that farmers could have access to the best available seeds in the world. It also set up a National Seeds Project with aid from the World Bank "to ensure high-quality seed production".Such efforts, however, have only got lost in a maze. Many feel the seed industry is too vast and too centralised for effective functioning. "The establishment has to be shrunk," admits Padda. "We need to strengthen the seed village concept, involve the panchayat and make it a local affair," echoes eminent scientist M.S. Swaminathan. There also are suggestions for strict enforcement of the seed policy with seed inspectors being made more accountable. It is only such seeds of change that can usher in a harvest of hope for the likes of Ranjit.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 12, 1998--- ENDS ---
