Minfal launches quality seed production project

Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) has launched quality seed production under private-public partnership through another project "Establishment of Facilitation Unit for Participatory Vegetable Seed and Nursery Production Programme", which will provide sound technological basis for vegetable seed and nursery production of fruit plants.
Under the project, 20 participatory units will be established in private sector on public-private partnership basis, said official sources. Presently, 11 new seed testing laboratories have been established and 16 existing laboratories rehabilitated/upgraded under a project "Establishment of Seed Testing Labs and Rehabilitation of Existing Labs." It will improve seed certification coverage in the country and ensure supply of disease free quality seeds.
Agricultural0sScientists of AARI said that "seed" is the basic and cheapest input and due to its genetic characteristic, it influences efficiency of other inputs in achieving better yields. The use of quality seed enables 20 to 25 percent improvements in crop yields. Seed has the potential to influence productivity both at commercial and subsistence farms. The government policy places greater focus to ensure increased supply of quality seed to the growers, they added.
They mentioned that private sector is being encouraged to produce and market improved seeds of various crops. So far, 657 private seed companies have been granted permission to do seed business. The present status of quality seed distribution of different crops is not satisfactory as the certified seed availability for wheat is 24 percent, paddy 30 percent, cotton 64 percent, maize 35 percent, oilseeds 12 percent and pulses 1.3 percent. The major source of supplies for seeds for fodder, maize, oilseeds and vegetables are imports. The inadequate availability of improved seed highlights the challenges lying ahead.
The ministry of food, agriculture and livestock has prepared a draft bill on "Plant Breeder's Rights" which provides legal protection against commercial exploitation of varieties evolved by plant breeders, and encourages both public/private sectors to invest in agricultural research and marketing. To provide an incentive to plant breeders to evolve and disseminate high yielding/better quality varieties, provision has been made for royalty for plant breeders in the draft legislation on plant breeder's rights, they mentioned.
They observed that Pakistan lacks a coherent Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary (SPS) management system in relation to its trade with other countries. There are serious capacity constraints and a lack of co-ordination and effective interaction between the departments involved in inspection, testing and other related activities. The absence of an SPS management system is resulting in rejection of exported consignments and export bans, costing the country huge losses in foreign exchange earnings. There is a strong and urgent need to develop an SPS management system.
Thus, a project "Special Programme for Strengthening SPS Facilities and Quality Inspection Services - Establishment of an Integrated Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (NAPHIS)" has been launched. It envisages a sound regulatory system to safeguard the health of animals and plants and to ensure compliance of agricultural produce with international SPS standards, they added.
Agri scientists mentioned that agriculture research is the prime factor for continuously improving and upgrading agricultural productivity and therefore appropriate investment has to be made for this purpose.
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (Parc), the main research body in the country had not received in the past enough financial support to upgrade its facilities and revamp its programmes. Therefore, Parc has now been supported through a mega project amounting to nearly Rs 3 billion to upgrade and refurbish its facilities, add new equipment and initiate research programmes around priority themes. Main fields include productivity improvement, high value agriculture (horticulture, livestock and fisheries), post-harvest technologies, value chain, export competitiveness, WTO compliance, sustainable resource use and others. This will also involve major human resource development for acquiring new skills and technology for undertaking strategic research in various sectors of agriculture, they concluded.