May 19, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1429

ON the priority list of climatic and human agriculture inputs, seed ranks only after water and weather. It can affect final yield up to 20 per cent if other inputs are applied properly. But a farmer’s entire investment and labour can be destroyed if the seed is weak or spurious even with all precautions taken and inputs applied.

According to experts, the anatomy of seed determines the timing, quantity and quality of all other inputs – water, fertiliser, plant protection and cultural practices – and gives clue to final yield through plant population. On the other hand, usage of uncertified seed plunges the entire cropping process into a blind alley.

Though seed being the most important factor in the process of agriculture, it is the weakest link in the farming chain. Over 80 per cent farmers use uncertified and domestic seeds of unknown origin and quality.

In case of wheat, only 18 to 20 per cent farmers use certified seed. In rice, the ratio is hardly 10 to 15 per cent. For sugarcane, two per cent seed is treated. Cotton and corn are two relative exceptions, where usage has touched 30 to 32 per cent in case of former and 40 per cent in the case of latter.

Juxtapose these figures with those of advanced countries, and the reasons behind Pakistan’s food paucity are not hard to understand. In case of agriculturally advanced countries, the ratio for cereal crops is 70 to 80 per cent, maize 100 per cent, rice 70 to 80 per cent and oilseed crops 100 per cent.

Farm scientists and policy-makers the world over know that no technology or any amount of inputs can save a crop if the seed is spurious, poor or weak. That is why agricultural research in the world is synonymous with seed research.

Precisely for this reason, the developed world first moved beyond plain seeds to genetically modified seed (GMO) – hybrids, Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). On the contrary, Pakistan is still stuck with plain seeds for almost entire range of crops. The situation is even worse in horticulture – fruits and vegetables. Kinnow has still not found any pest-resistant variety nor did mango. Both major exportable fruits are struggling to gain a foothold in foreign markets as they suffer from basic diseases like fruit fly and rind blemishes – a failure of research both in seed and management. Seed for okra was once imported from Sri Lanka and has since there has been progress in research.

On the other hand, the country has allowed around 650 private seed companies to create a total chaos in the domestic seed market. A vast majority of them do not have even basic infrastructure to produce and multiply seeds, leave alone go deep into need-based research. They are selling seeds of unknown origins and varieties under different names. Over 50 per cent cotton farmers were duped last year in the name of BT seed when the country has not approved even one variety of such seed.

Most of the farmers suffered varying crop losses, even total, as they did not spray pesticides on crops against any disease, and the country ended up with a loss of two million bales – a staggering loss of over Rs24 billion.

The present food crunch necessitates a massive and concerted two-pronged national effort to develop not only public sector research but also screen the working of foreign companies.

For the last many years, as has been the case with many other sectors, the government has been waiting for private or foreign investment in seed research. The purpose, however, has not been served despite massive invasion of foreign companies, which made selective research to multiply their windfall profits rather than keeping in view their social responsibility. The government, under donors’ pressure, tried to wind up provincial seed corporations and leave the entire sector on the mercy of these multi-nationals.

Career structure of agriculture scientists has been pathetic for the last 60 years, which reflects the official apathy towards research. Some half-hearted attempts made during these years, have not yielded the desired results so far. There have been some success stories like “Super” variety of rice, which despite being 12-year-old, gave 10 per cent additional yield last year, proving substantial vitality of the seed. A better quality sugarcane seed, with over 1,500 maunds yield against the national average of 500 to 600 maunds, and with sucrose content of 11 per cent instead of eight per cent, has been developed. But, it has still been limited to a few progressive farmers.

The country needs concerted efforts at the national level to set the seed sector right, and bring the nation out of food crisis. For each crop, it needs to develop seeds according to the local agricultural requirements. The researchers should concentrate on developing seeds that can sustain water stresses, resist disease, are tolerant to salt and high in yield.

This is not an arduous task. Many countries have been successful in developing seeds according to their ecological needs. These may serve as role models for Pakistan. In addition to developing such seeds through public sector, it should also develop a screening mechanism to monitor private companies dealing in seeds business. At present, most of these companies lack even in basic infrastructures to develop seeds, but they are being allowed in the business. They are rather selling different seeds with different names and rigging the entire market and duping the farmers resulting in the worst food crisis.