Lok Sabha Question No. 174 (STARRED), answered on 2023-08-01
Subject: Demand and Supply of Quality Seeds
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Manjulata Mandal, Dhanush M Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.174

TO BE ANSWERED ON 01 ST  AUGUST, 2023

## DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF QUALITY SEEDS

- *174.  SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL: SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान काण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) the estimated demand and supply of seeds in the country including Odisha and Tamil Nadu;
- (b) whether the farmers face a lot of difficulties in procuring quality seeds;
- (c) if  so, whether the Government has taken steps to make available quality seeds to farmers under various schemes like National Food Security Mission and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether any financial assistance is provided for seed related activities for the welfare of farmers;
- (e) if so, the amount disbursed under various seed related schemes during the last three years, State-wise along with the number of farmers benefitted therefrom;
- (f) whether the Government has utilised the services of Non-Governmental Organisations to provide seeds to farmers and if so, the details of such organisations; and
- (g) the other steps taken by the Government to make new improved varieties of seeds available to the farmers for cultivation at the earliest?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान काण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) to (g): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT IN  RESPECT  OF  PARTS  (a)  TO  (g)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO. 174 FOR 01 ST  AUGUST, 2023 REGARDING DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF QUALITY SEEDS.

- (a) to (c): As reported by the States, the details of the requirement and the availability of certified/quality seed in the country (including Odisha and Tamil Nadu) for the last three years areas under:

(Quantity in Lakh Quintals)

| Year    |   Requirement |   Availability |   Surplus |
|---------|---------------|----------------|-----------|
| 2020-21 |        443.16 |         483.66 |     40.5  |
| 2021-22 |        465.36 |         498.83 |     33.47 |
| 2022-23 |        464.14 |         514.26 |     50.12 |

The following steps are being taken up by DA&FW, MoA&FW to ensure availability of quality seed to the farmers:-

- (i)  As a routine process, DA&FW requests all State Governments to prepare a Seed Rolling Plan  three  years  in  advance  to  estimate  the  requirement  of  seed  in  their  state  and distribute seed production targets accordingly to different seed production agencies. This system ensures timely availability of required quantity of seed to the farmers in various states.
- (ii)  DA&FW also ensures that the State governments place their breeder seed indent of agriculture  and  horticulture  crops  one  year  in  advance  for  systematic  breeder  seed production of indented quantities. After production, the breeder seed is allotted to State Governments and other agencies for further multiplication into foundation and thereafter to certified seed and for its distribution to the farmers.
- (iii)  Under the scheme National Seed Reserve, assistance is provided to various states for creating  Seed  Reserve  every  year  having  short/medium  duration  and  stress  tolerant varieties seeds for unforeseen climatic conditions.
- (iv)  Fixation  of  uniform  breeder  seed  price  is  ensured  in  consultation  with  ICAR  for optimization of seed production cost in respect of foundation and certified seed.
- (v) Government  has  launched  the  first  phase  of  SATHI  Portal  for  Seed  Authentication, Traceability & Holistic Inventory, to bring monitoring, efficiency and transparency in the seed chain.

In view of the surplus availability of certified/quality seeds and steps taken by the Ministry, no difficulty in procurement of quality seeds is reported.

(d) & (e): Yes, Sir. Government of India provides financial assistance to various States and Government Seed Producing Agencies for production and distribution of seeds and for other interventions related to seed sector viz. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Materials (SMSP), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi VikasYojana (RKVY) etc. The scheme wise details of last three years are placed at Annexure-I .

(f): Breeder seed is provided to organizations such as National Seeds Association of India (NSAI), Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO), Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO), National Seeds Corporation (NSC), National Fertilizer Limited (NFL), Hindustan  Insecticide  Limited  (HIL),  Cooperatives,  Krishi  Vigyan  Kendras  (KVKs),  and Farmers Producing Organizations (FPOs). These organizations further produce foundation and certified/quality seeds and make it available to the farmers.

(g): National Agricultural Research System (NARS) under the aegis of ICAR is working on more than 80 crops for development of high yielding, bio-fortified and climate resilient varieties. A total of 2279 varieties (in cereals 1093, oilseeds 343, pulses 343, sugarcane 68, forage 136, fibre 279 and millets 17) have been released during the last 9 years (20142023). Furthermore, varieties of different field and horticultural crops have been developed under the All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRP). Once the variety is released and notified, various Seed Producing Agencies like Department of Agriculture of States, National Seed Corporation, State Seed Corporations etc. place their breeder seed indent of these  varieties,  which  is  further  multiplied  into  foundation  and  certified  seeds  and  get incorporated in seed chain for cultivation.

## Annexure-I

## Amount released and Farmers benefitted under Seed Village Programme of SMSP

Benefitted

| S. No.   | Name of State     | 2020-21                 | 2020-21                      | 2021-22                 | 2021-22                      | 2022-23                 | 2022-23                      |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------|------------------------------|
| S. No.   | Name of State     | Released (Rs.in crores) | Farmers Benefitted (numbers) | Released (Rs.in crores) | Farmers Benefitted (numbers) | Released (Rs.in crores) | Farmers Benefitted (numbers) |
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh    | 3.10                    | 30,600                       | -                       | 17,625                       | -                       | -                            |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh | 1.13                    | -                            | -                       | 32,000                       | 0.77                    | -                            |
| 3.       | Assam             | 14.87                   | 10,78,675                    | -                       | 4,02,084                     | -                       | -                            |
| 4.       | Bihar             | 5.41                    | -                            | -                       | 83,015                       | 1.57                    | -                            |
| 5.       | Central Agency    | 5.11                    | 74,598                       | 0.38                    | 43,461                       | 14.26                   | 2,34,502                     |
| 6.       | Chhattisgarh      | 3.40                    | 78,369                       | 3.88                    | 1,98,851                     | 5.93                    | 1,82,267                     |
| 7.       | Gujarat           | 1.56                    | 15,984                       | -                       | -                            | -                       | -                            |
| 8.       | Himachal Pradesh  | 6.46                    | 2,26,665                     | 3.79                    | 1,26,541                     | 10.15                   | 1,62,500                     |
| 9.       | Jammu & Kashmir   | 8.42                    | 2,31,846                     | -                       | 1,63,153                     | 5.44                    | -                            |
| 10.      | Karnataka         | 0.36                    | 7,241                        | -                       | 3,887                        | -                       | -                            |
| 11.      | Madhya Pradesh    | 19.34                   | 6,72,275                     | 6.58                    | 4,45,400                     | 20.22                   | 1,83,874                     |
| 12.      | Maharashtra       | 11.26                   | 1,25,798                     | -                       | 3,93,781                     | 19.36                   | 5,98,806                     |
| 13.      | Meghalaya         | 0.44                    | 35,000                       | -                       | -                            | -                       | -                            |
| 14.      | Mizoram           | 0.04                    | -                            | -                       | 385                          | -                       | -                            |
| 15.      | Nagaland          | 1.31                    | 10,100                       | -                       | -                            | -                       | -                            |
| 16.      | Puducherry        | -                       | 101                          | -                       | -                            | -                       | -                            |
| 17.      | Rajasthan         | 2.56                    | 1,39,438                     | 1.32                    | 2,16,634                     | 9.75                    | 2,25,845                     |
| 18.      | Sikkim            | 0.04                    | -                            | -                       | 715                          | -                       | -                            |
| 19.      | Tamilnadu         | 17.77                   | 6,85,753                     | 13.03                   | 7,42,747                     | 23.01                   | 7,55,664                     |
| 20.      | Telangana         | 4.28                    | 20,225                       | -                       | -                            | -                       | -                            |
| 21.      | Uttar Pradesh     | 15.87                   | 1,14,416                     | 0.15                    | 1,79,994                     | -                       | 1,89,030                     |
| 22.      | Uttarakhand       | 5.56                    | 1,01,957                     | 1.58                    | 1,14,752                     | 2.59                    | 95,079                       |
|          | Grand Total       | 128.30                  | 36,49,041                    | 30.72                   | 31,65,025                    | 113.07                  | 26,27,567                    |

## Amount released under National Food Security Mission (in crores)

| S. No.   | Name of the State   | 2020-21   | 2021-22   | 2022-23   |
|----------|---------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh      | 38.75     | 10.08     | -         |
| 2.       | Arunachal Pradesh   | 8.56      | 1.73      | 1.38      |
| 3.       | Assam               | 156.14    | 15.83     | 79.78     |
| 4.       | Bihar               | 14.06     | 6.29      | 8.62      |
| 5.       | Chhattisgarh        | 53.40     | 2.54      | 39.42     |
| 6.       | Gujarat             | 16.96     | 4.75      | 19.20     |
| 7.       | Haryana             | 3.40      | 3.37      | 5.68      |
| 8.       | Himachal Pradesh    | 11.20     | 5.81      | 2.99      |
| 9.       | UT of J & K         | 3.78      | 1.90      | 1.38      |
| 10.      | Jharkhand           | 12.64     | 3.14      | -         |
| 11.      | Karnataka           | 93.12     | 82.34     | 102.67    |
| 12.      | Kerala              | -         | 0.16      | 0.10      |
| 13.      | UT of Ladakh        | 0.20      | -         | -         |
| 14.      | Madhya Pradesh      | 14.14     | 169.56    | 45.71     |
| 15.      | Maharashtra         | 128.56    | 44.68     | 70.69     |
| 16.      | Manipur             | 6.54      | 2.19      | -         |
| 17.      | Meghalaya           | 4.74      | 0.25      | 0.93      |
| 18.      | Mizoram             | 1.44      | 0.61      | -         |
| 19.      | Nagaland            | 17.00     | 3.39      | 5.01      |
| 20.      | Odisha              | 72.84     | 30.37     | 13.24     |
| 21.      | Punjab              | 0.28      | -         | -         |
| 22.      | Rajasthan           | 140.25    | 89.50     | 97.26     |
| 23.      | Sikkim              | 5.71      | 1.24      | 2.13      |
| 24.      | Tamil Nadu          | 34.10     | 26.50     | 48.69     |
| 25.      | Telangana           | 7.10      | -         | -         |
| 26.      | Tripura             | 6.02      | 3.20      | 1.49      |
| 27.      | Uttar Pradesh       | 100.13    | 52.73     | 55.77     |
| 28.      | Uttarakhand         | 10.36     | 4.98      | 8.90      |
| 29.      | West Bengal         | 63.87     | 42.83     | 41.56     |
| Total    | Total               | 1025.27   | 1,025.27  | 609.95    |

Approved Seed Projects cost under RKVY (in crores)

| S. No.   | State          | 2020-21   | 2021-22   | 2022-23   |
|----------|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh | 22.15     | -         | -         |
| 2        | Bihar          | -         | 4.31      | -         |
| 3        | Chhattisgarh   | 8.73      | -         | -         |
| 4        | Gujarat        | 81.48     | 40.60     | -         |
| 5        | Haryana        | 54.70     | 30.00     | 28.00     |
| 6        | Karnataka      | 15.84     | 4.19      | -         |
| 7        | Kerala         | -         | 1.55      | 3.95      |
| 8        | Madhya Pradesh | 35.40     | 52.87     | 23.63     |
| 9        | Maharashtra    | -         | 1.81      | -         |
| 10       | Manipur        | 0.08      | -         | -         |
| 11       | Orissa         | 12.26     | -         | 3.82      |
| 12       | Punjab         | 18.55     | -         | -         |
| 13       | Rajasthan      | 1.00      | -         | 27.39     |
| 14       | Tamil Nadu     | 3.06      | 0.30      | 13.60     |
| 15       | Telangana      | 31.85     | -         | -         |
| 16       | Uttar Pradesh  | 33.99     | -         | -         |
| 17       | West Bengal    | 23.77     | 50.43     | 29.57     |
| Total    | Total          | 342.86    | 186.06    | 129.96    |

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