Local seed industry turning key centre in Asia

The Rs 490 crore Indian seed industry is emerging as an important centre for seed production in the south-east Asian region owing to the availability of a variety of crops growing in a varied range of climatic conditions in the country.

According to a Rabobank report, the domestic seed industry has matured over the last couple of years with the introduction and broad acceptance of technologically superior transgenic hybrids of cotton crops.

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has recently reported that BT cotton acreage has increased to 3.2 million hectares in 2006, from 1.2 million hectares in 2005.

India's 161.7 million hectares of cultivated land make up the second largest acreage of arable land in the world after the US (176.1 million hectares).

As only 40 per cent of the gross cropped area in the country is irrigated, agriculture is highly dependent on the vageries of the monsoon. Majority of croped area is rainfed. Foodgrains are the most important cultivated crops with production ranging from 190 - 200 milion tonne per annum.

The commercial seed market accounts for approximately 25 per cent of the total available seeds in the country. The remaining 75 per cent of the seeds are retained by farmers for sowing in the next season.

The seed industry is dominated by the private sector with a private and public ratio of 76:24, measured by volume.

According to the Rabobank report, organised sectoral activity and small-scale operators involved in the seed trade account for 57 per cent and 43 per cent of the private commercial seed market respectively.

If India is to sustain a GDP growth of 8 per cent per annum, the agriculture sector should grow at the rate of 4 per cent per annum.

The seed industry has a major role to play in the growth of the farm sector, creating awareness among farmers of new methods and introducing technologically advanced products that offer improved biotic and abiotic traits.

However, sustainable growth in Indian agriculture sector can be achieved only by setting up a regulatory regime which would attract international players not only for trading but also for acquiring small companies in India.

Small companies which do not have enough resources to spend on R&D could tie up with giant multinational biotech companies for introducing innovative products in future and the seed industry, growing at 12-13 per cent currently, can register robust growth in future, the report said.