The seed supply system has many weaknesses as for as protection of farmers' seed rights is concerned, therefore, efforts should be made to increase the agricultural productivity. It could be an exercise in futility without protecting the farmers' rights to have access to quality seeds, said a study.
This was the gist of study compiled by the Actionaid Pakistan, saying thet seed regulation scheme envisaged in Seed Act, 1976 is still in its nascent stage. Neither the seed importers nor the imported seed varieties are properly registered.
"The Federal Seed Certification Agency (FSCA) is not the member of International Seed Testing Association," says the study. The FSCA has no accreditation. There is not a single formal post of seed inspector in the FSCA to whom the Seed Act entrusts seed regulation duties to control the escalating business of fake seed, declining quality of certified seeds and frequent crop failures due to poor quality seeds, said the NGO, which is the frontrunner in protests against the WTO.
The ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) has not yet declared any formal National Seed Policy rather it is actively engaged in getting through the legislation on Plant Breeder's Rights Bill and the Seed Act Amendment Bill. The draft bills have been finalised and sent to the Cabinet for discussion. These laws will shape the future development of seed supply system in Pakistan. They will help the private sector in developing domestic seed industry and delimit the space for exercising farmers' seed rights, the study says.
Laws required for addressing the issues of "Geographical Origin of Agricultural Goods", "Conservation of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture" and "National Community Rights on Genetic Resources" are moving slowly as there is no internal and external thrust for expediting the process. These laws, along with laws on patents, will have extensive impact on the future of seed system in Pakistan, the study observed.
On one hand, efforts are being made to provide maximum protection to hybrid seeds and biotech seeds of multinationals through new legislation while on the other, a relaxed mode is being observed in respect of protecting national and community rights on genetic resources, geographical origins and traditional knowledge which are open for bio-prospecting by the multinationals, the study pointed out.
During the last 30 years from enactment of Seed Act, 1976, to present day, the seed industry in the country has gradually come forward to supply seeds of wheat, cotton and rice to the extent of 19.7 percent, 63.5 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. All these seed varieties are predominantly self-pollinated and easy to produce. The seed companies simply multiply and distribute public sector crop varieties without any effort for technology acquiring or development. Most of the 552 public and private sector seed companies are not seed companies in real sense and more or less are simply seed traders. Only few seed companies have initiated rudimentary research and development activities with minimal infrastructure, said the study.
The public sector institutions are backbone of advance research for developing new technologies and genetic resources even in corporate sector-led countries like the USA, the UK, France and Australia. The role of such institutions becomes more critical for development of domestic seed industry in developing countries.
The position of our research system is "dismal and disappointing". None of the research institutes is eager to share its technological achievements with any other research institute for acceleration of technical advancement, said the report.