LAHORE: Stakeholders have feared that if unchecked sale of unregistered/unlisted maize seed is not stopped by the government with an iron hand, this crop, which has witnessed phenomenal growth since the introduction of hybrid seeds in 1990s, may meet the fate being faced by the cotton crop.
Maize has recorded a big increase in production to 6.8 million tonnes in 2018-19 to 7.2 million tonnes this year. The commodity witnessed a growth rate of 6 percent and success of this crop can be traced back to late 1990s when high yield maize hybrids were introduced to replace traditional/open-pollinated varieties.
However, sale of copy, unregistered or unlisted seeds of corn may hamper this upward trend, said stakeholders while speaking at a two-day workshop on 'Modern Agriculture: Challenges & Opportunities' arranged by the CropLife Pakistan recently.
Introduction of high yield hybrid seeds laid the foundation for the growth with the average yields across Pakistan having tripled from 17.4 maunds per acre in 1999-00 to 51.2 maunds per acre in 2019-20. Now farmers are getting over 100 maunds per acre in spring season due to availability of world class hybrid seed by the R&D based companies.
The availability of grain has helped to meet demands of industries like poultry, dairy, wet milling etc which otherwise would have to import corn grain to meet the local food and feed demands.
Much of the grain is consumed by the poultry industry as feed - approximately 70 percent of all grain produced locally. According to the Pakistan Poultry Association, the sector is projected to grow at 10-12% per annum and will therefore require more than 7 million tons of maize grain by 2023, a volume Pakistan has barely been able to produce this year.
Tallal Hakeem, Regulatory Affairs Lead of Corteva AgriSciences, in his presentation on maize crop a success story claimed that during the autumn season, substantial percentage the seed sold by the local companies are unregistered, unlisted, fake or pirated.
He said that growing maize crop had brought three multi-nationals to produce seeds locally not only for the domestic consumption but some of them were also exporting a portion of their produce fetching precious foreign exchange. However, these companies have stopped producing locally because of pilferage of their germplasm.
He said that the government should take strong steps to check sale of copied seed. "We have world class seed available in the country and farmers have already enjoyed the benefits of sowing this quality seed. Some 95 percent of the maize crop area in Punjab already covered hybrid maize, further increase in productivity will be marginal unless the corrupt practices are not stopped and innovative technologies and modern farming practices are not embraced.
Giving solution to the problem, Tallal said the government should strengthen the enforcement by the federal and provincial departments, enhance punishments on sale of fake or spurious seeds and other agricultural inputs, Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) should be implemented immediately and introduction of DNA fingerprinting which can help identifying the original owner of any hybrid seed. To a question, he replied that some of the government departments have the facility of DNA fingerprinting.
Other speakers stressed the need for introduction of such agricultural technologies which could help Pakistan's agri sector to deal with the repercussions of climate change. Rising temperatures could alter rainfall patterns and soil characteristics, shorten the growing periods, increase the risk of pests and diseases, and in extreme circumstances result in floods, droughts, heat waves etc., which would create fluctuations in food availability, quality and access.
Feeding the growing population and fulfilling the demand for downstream industries is going to remain a constant challenge. Fortunately, technology has advanced significantly in the recent past educating farmers on best agronomic practices will help maximize yield potential; and, innovative technologies such as sensors, weather tracking, GPS-enabled farm machinery and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) will help monitor crop health, manage variations, plant seeds and apply crop protection accurately and efficiently.
CropLife Pakistan Executive Director Rashid Ahmad said that 26 research stations are working in Pakistan by different companies who are carrying out 2100 research trials and 6500 commercial trials per annum besides arranging capacity building programmes for farmers and other stakeholders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020