**U.S. Planting Seed Trade**

*December 1997*

**General Trade Summary**

U.S. planting seedexports during July-October 1997 totaled 253,559 metric tonsvalued at $238.9 million, a decrease of 3 percent in volume butan increase of 17 percent in value over the same period in 1996.Imports for the period totaled 40,430 tons (6 percent below ayear ago) valued at $89.8 million (10 percent above last year).

**AttacheReports**

Following are excerptsfrom U.S. Agricultural Attache reports recently received inFAS/Washington. Copies of the complete reports may be obtained bycontacting the Cotton, Oilseeds, Tobacco, and Seeds Division atthe address, telephone or Fax number listed on the back cover.

 

**India (Report numberIN7116)****:** In 1988 the government partiallyliberalized imports of seeds, mostly of fruits and vegetables.Since then, imports of seeds have increased, albeit from a lowbase. Government efforts to develop India's food processingsector and expand exports of processed food products are likelyto generate increased demand for seeds of vegetable and fruitvarieties that meet the needs of processors and foreign buyers.

Historically India hassought to be completely self-sufficient in seed production, likein most other agricultural commodities. Self sufficiency wouldreinforce both the authority and the importance of pubic sectorresearch institutions which traditionally had a controlling voicein setting seed sector policy. The belated recognition of thefact that average crop yields in India are among the lowest inthe world for most crops combined with the government's statedgoal to aggressively pursue export opportunities forhorticultural and other agricultural products led the Ministry ofAgriculture to announce a New Policy on Seed Development in 1988.

The government was inthe process of enacting a revised version of the Plant VarietyProtection legislation as required under the GATT agreementduring the winter session of the Parliament. However, with thecollapse of the United Front government in late November, theenactment of the legislation will have to wait until a newgovernment comes into place in March 1998. Provided the Indiangovernment moves in the right direction as far as varietalprotection is concerned, there is a vast potential for the supplyof US seeds to India.

Biotechnology isintroducing new opportunities and the Indian government hasalready begun approval procedures for some products. Geneticallymodified crops must be approved by an interagency committee underthe Ministry of Environment and Forests, includingrepresentatives of several Ministries with the lead taken by theDepartment of Biotechnology of the Ministry of Science andTechnology. However, there is a potential public relationsproblem if the issues are distorted in the press. At this stage,it's not clear what if any new restrictions will arise from thisdebate.

 

**Netherlands (Report numberNL7152)****:**The Netherlands is a producer and exporterof a wide variety of planting seeds. Because the Dutch marketitself is relatively small, the Dutch seed industry dependslargely on exports. After France and the United States, theNetherlands is the largest supplier of seeds to the world market.

Grass seeds are the mostimportant seed variety grown in the Netherlands. Estimates forthe 1997 acreage are substantially up from 1996. A moderateincrease is expected for 1998, in order to meet demand andrebuild stocks. This year, the growth is expected to beparticularly apparent in acreage planted to turf seeds. In thefall of 1996 and the spring of 1997, demand for forage seeds wasstrong and prices were good, due to the fierce winter and drysummer which necessitated new sowing of fields. This resulted inan increase in the acreage of forage seeds in 1997. The currentsituation is such that disappointing demand for forage seed hascaused prices to drop by roughly 10 percent compared to lastyear.

 

Data and Graphics:

Image:  July-OctoberU.S. Planting Seed Exports by Group

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Data:    U.S. Planting Seed Export Highlights,July-October           U.S.Planting Seed Import Highlights, July-October

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| *Last modified: Wednesday, June 24, 1998* |