Locally produced seeds are now more easily available for crop cultivation than before which is why the yield of some major and minor crops is on the rise.

Officials of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNSFR) say that local production of seeds exceeded the target in the last fiscal year thanks to a revamp of the seed business’s regulatory regime.

Locally available certified seeds of selected major and minor crops reached close to 520,000 tonnes in the first nine months of FY17 against the full year target of 411,000 tonnes, and up 29pc from 402,000 tonnes in the same period of FY16, officials say.

“A larger local output of seeds saved millions of dollars that would have been spent on additional seed imports at a time when the country’s trade deficit is already very high”

“Once final figures trickle in, seed availability in full FY17 would cross the 600,000-tonne mark,” an official of the MNSFR told this writer.

Authorities take into account seeds of wheat, cotton, paddy, maize, pulses, oilseeds and seeds of vegetables, fodders and potatoes for calculating the total local output of certified seeds.

Despite higher than targeted local production of certified seeds, about 39,000 tonnes of certified seeds of fodder, maize, potato and vegetables had to be imported to meet farmers’ requirements.

Paddy growers and oilseed growers also had to import a small amount of seeds (less than one thousand tonnes), official stats reveal.

“Larger local output of seeds saved millions of dollars that would have been spent on additional imports (of seeds) at a time when the country’s trade deficit is already very high,” said another official of the MNSFR.

Officials say that the enforcement of Seed (Business Regulation) Rules in September 2016 has provided an enabling environment for production of certified seeds in the private sector.

They say that other corollary measures taken by the MNSFR — like making testing and sampling of seeds more transparent — also had a hand in boosting local seed production. Within some years, the import of certified seed shall come down significantly, they claim.

But this does not mean that our growers would stop using uncertified or unregistered seeds altogether.

For that to happen, the current output of certified seeds will have to grow at a double-digit rate for many years to come. The reason is that our total requirement of seeds from all sources (for the above-listed major and minor crops) is about 1.8m tonnes against total local production of about 600,000 tonnes.

Pakistan’s seed sector remained neglected for a long time and it was only two years ago that the authorities revisited obsolete laws governing the seeds business. The Seed Act of 2015 was promulgated in July 2015, setting the stage for a total overhaul of seeds regulatory framework.

Later on, framing of the Seed (Business Regulations) Rules 2016 streamlined the working of private seed companies. Besides, both federal and provincial governments also ramped up efforts to boost production of certified seeds in the public sector.

Still, less than 20pc of the locally produced certified seeds come from the public sector, growers and sources in the seed industry say.

They say that apart from a lack of investment in development of seed varieties of key crops, scant infrastructure for proper storage of seeds and missing focus on spreading awareness among farmers about seed preservation are key reasons for the low output of certified local seeds.

The Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) and other federal and provincial institutions continue to conduct research on seeds of key crops, often with the technical assistance of foreign agencies.

Periodically, they also succeed in developing better and high-yielding varieties, some of which also come under commercial cultivation and lead to greater output of crops.

But development of seeds and ensuring their sufficient availability for wide-scale commercial use are two different things.

“Lots of growers keep demanding newly developed seeds only to be told by the authorities that they don’t have enough stocks. Private seed companies complain that they are not being involved in commercial production of newly developed seeds,” laments an official of the Sindh Abadgar Board.

More than 500 seed companies are registered in the country, more than 85pc of them in Punjab and 10pc plus in Sindh. But just around 100 are actively involved in seed business, says an official of Seed Association of Pakistan.

After enactment of the Seed Act, the private sector can produce basic seeds and can also establish accredited seed testing laboratories of their own.

Seed companies, particularly those of foreign origin are likely to invest in both areas. That can give a real boost to seed development and output as currently the market remains flooded with fake and sub-standard seeds of all crops.

Officials say that the Plant Breeder Rights law that was promulgated towards the end of 2016 should also be helpful in further development of seed industry adding that in the presence of this law foreign companies would feel tempted to invest in the seed sector.

Earlier, companies were unsure of the legal protection of the seed varieties developed by them. Chinese and American companies have already shown an interest in investing in this area, they say.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, July 10th, 2017