Quality seeds production an industry now: Barua

Industries Minister Dilip Barua yesterday declared quality seeds production an industry -- a move which will help enhance the productivity of agricultural produces.
The declaration will help seed producers get bank loans, receive government incentives and expand backward linkage activities.
“We will soon publish a gazette notification about this,” Barua said at a seminar on seed technology in the city.
Bangladesh Society of Seed Technology organised the seminar in association with the seed wing of the agriculture ministry at the auditorium of Khamar Bari.
The use of modern machinery in production is helping the agricultural sector take shape, the minister said.
Every year, demand for food grains increases by 2-2.5 lakh tonnes although lands under agricultural farming decline due to the population boom, industry insiders said.
“We have to focus on productivity with the use of quality seeds,” Barua said.
The country produces 2.2 lakh tonnes of quality seeds a year, which is only 20 percent of its annual demand, according to industry insiders.
At the event, seed producers urged the government to include quality seed production as a thrust sector of the National Industrial Policy 2010.
If the government provides policy support, more entrepreneurs will come to produce quality seeds locally and reduce dependency on seed imports, Mohammed Masum, chairman of Supreme Seed Company, told The Daily Star.
“Agricultural productivity will increase by 15-20 percent if farmers get high quality and good graded seeds,” said Masum, who is also a former president of Bangladesh Seed Growers, Dealers and Merchants Association (presently known as Bangladesh Seed Association).
Around 30 private companies are involved in supplying quality seeds to agri-products growers through 17,000 dealers countrywide to help flourish the seed production sector employing around 5 lakh farmers.