SEED VILLAGE

Introduction

Seed is the starting point of agriculture and dictates ultimate productivity of other inputs. Good quality seed alone increases the yield by 15-20 per cent. To meet the potential challenge of catering to the food need of 1.4 billion people of our country by 2025, a quantum increase in agricultural productivity is very much essential and hence production and distribution of high quality seeds of improved varieties/ hybrids to the fanning community is becoming increasingly important. The expansion of agriculture under tropical conditions due to the improvement of cultivars with juvenile period imposed a scientific and technological challenges concerning the seed production under different environmental conditions.

The seed programme includes the participation of state government, SAU system, public sector, cooperative and private sector institutions. With the best efforts of all these organized sectors, only 15-20 per cent of the total requirement of quality seed is being met with. In most, kind of seeds, the farmers depend on their own farm saved seeds for crop production which needs certain basic practices of selection of good seeds for sowing. Moreover the crops are raised for market and a small portion of the grains are separated, stored and used as seeds in the next season which may not meet the quality aspects as expected for a seed which results in poor field stand, and ultimately yield.
,
Quality seed is the key input for realizing potential productivity. As the quality deteriorates during subsequent generations the old seed must be replaced with fresh lots of quality seeds. Ideally seed should be replaced every year for hybrids and every three to four years for non-hybrids. Therefore it is necessary to improve the availability of quality seeds to raise the Seed Replacement Rate (SRR).
Despite implementation of the organized seed programme, the seed replacement rate has only reached 15 per cent and there exists an alarming gap between the demand and supply of quality seeds. The role of private seed industry in the production and distribution of quality seeds is well recognized in the Indian' seed industry. However, they remain generally in the production of low volume high value seeds, which cater.to the needs of only few selected farmers.         .

The distribution of high volume low value seeds such as rice varieties, oil seeds and pulses are still with the public sector organization. The non-availability of quality seeds in oilseeds and pulses is one of the main reasons for its lower seed replacement rate. The immediate increase in the productivity and production of these corps can be achieved by a higher distribution of quality seeds of new and high yielding varieties.
There is vast scope to produce and distribute quality seeds in these corps for which seed village concept is a noval and highly practical approach and needs to be promoted to facilitate production and timely distribution of quality seeds of desired varieties at village level. In this context, the concept of seed village which advocates village self-sufficiency in production and distribution of quality seeds is getting momentum.