Seed Quality Assurance and Marketing...Seed Quality Assurance and Marketing by Dr Mahendra P...

Seed Quality Assurance and Marketing by Dr Mahendra P Khanal

Seed Quality Assurance and Marketing

AbstractConsidering the importance of high quality seeds in crop production, distribution of quality tested seeds was started in 1961 in Nepal. The share of formally supplied seeds, which fulfil the minimum quality standard, reached around 12 percent in cereals and 76 percent in vegetables in 2014 suggesting that the percentage share of quality assured seeds are lower than required. This study is carried out with an objective of identifying the causes of poor supply of high quality seeds in the market and find out the measures to overcome them. In this study, an in-depth review of Nepalese seed sector is carried out from quality and marketing perspectives. The legal framework and minimum quality standards of Nepal are compared with the similar standards of closest neighbours. A thorough analysis of the review of Nepalese seed sector and quality comparison is carried out to identify major gaps. Appropriate recommendations to correct these gaps are also suggested. An action plan has been developed to implement these recommendations. The study is concluded with two major insights. The first one says that the human resource development did not get continuity in the past although this is a much highlighted topic in seed sector policies to ensure the production and marketing of high quality seeds. The second one suggests that the quality maintenance and improvement of seed distribution mechanism of the varieties what we have will not be sufficient to address the demand of seed users unless there is ample supply of seeds of farmers' preferred varieties in the market.

Key words: seed quality, marketing, standards, variety, formal supply, policy,

1. IntroductionThe use of high quality seeds is the primary factor for increasing crop yield. The efficacy of other agricultural inputs depends on the quality of seeds. Empirical evidences suggest that the use of high quality improved seeds increases the crop yield by 20 to 30 percent (Thompson, 1986). High quality seeds can be obtained by following step-by-step procedure recommended for production, processing, storing, packaging and labelling, and marketing. The important features of high quality seeds are: genetically and physically pure, properly mature, free from pests and diseases, uniform in size, high germination potential, optimum moisture content, viable, and vigorous. Production increment is possible only when farmers have easy access on desirable amount of seeds of preferred varieties with these quality features before the cropping season.

To ensure the availability of high quality seeds for farmers, different actors are involved in the value chain, on which seeds are transferred from producers to crop growers. The transfer of seeds from one actor to another in the chain is required to increase the quality, which adds value for ultimate users. Extreme care is required in every steps of the chain so that the crop growers get maximum possible value from the use of seeds. The efficiency of chain actors, infrastructure, facilities, and materials used with seeds are other factors, which affect the quality as well as value for end users.

Supply of seeds through formal system is far below the required level in Nepal. The formal system is characterized by a vertically organized distribution of domestically produced or imported seeds of notified varieties by public and private organizations using agreed quality control mechanism. The required level of seed replacement rate (SRR) in the context of Nepal is set above 25 percent for cereals and above 90 percent for vegetables (GON, 2013). Against this, the formal system supplies around 12 percent of the total seed requirement in major cereals (SQCC, 2014 a) and around 76 percent in vegetables (VDD, 2014). In Nepal, seeds produced and marketed by individual farmers or farmers' groups, cooperatives, private companies, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and public sector organizations, such as Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Government


farms/centres, National Seed Company Ltd. and Salt Trading Company Ltd. following approved quality assurance system, and imported from abroad are accounted in the formal system. The quality assurance of formally supplied seeds is done by fulfilling legal requirements and by maintaining approved field as well as seed standard. Rest of the seeds used for crop production comes informally from farmers saved seeds. The quality of bulk of seeds, which come from the informal sector, is not assured.

There are some discrepancies in the use of formally supplied seeds. The major portion of such seeds is supplied in terai region and accessible areas. Farmers growing crops in remote rural areas have difficulty in getting such seeds. In addition, the farmers who are using formally supplied seeds purchase seeds from the market almost every year and the farmers who are using their own saved seeds do not replace the seeds for several years.

2. ObjectiveThe main objective of this paper is to identify gaps and appropriate measures to correct them through an in-depth review of Nepalese seed sector to ensure the supply of high quality seeds of desirable varieties to farmers at the time of planting.

3. An Assessment of Seed Quality Assurance and MarketingA review of seed quality assurance system in Nepal and her neighbours as well as the marketing of high quality seeds is undertaken to identify the major gaps in assuring the quality of seeds supplied to farmers. This review includes the brief history of seed quality control services, seed related policies, role of different agencies involved in seed sector, seed quality parameters, seed quality assurance and marketing in Nepal, and a comparison of seed quality assurance between Nepal and the nearest neighbouring countries.

3.1 HistoryThe history of seed production and distribution dates back to late 1950s and early 1960s with the introduction of exotic varieties of rice, maize, and wheat in Nepal. Seed production was undertaken in Government farms in those days and distributed to farmers through extension services. To find out the quality of seeds produced in Government farms, their samples were tested for the first time in 1961 (Kshetri, 2013). For the continuity of seed testing programmes, Central seed Testing Laboratory (CSTL) was established under the Agronomy Division of Department of Agriculture (DOA) in 1962. The main aim of establishing the CSTL was to ensure the supply of good quality seeds produced in Government farms to farmers. After the establishment of Agriculture Botany Division (ABD) in Khumaltar in 1965, the laboratory was kept under this division. In addition to testing seeds, the ABD started field inspection and seed certification as part of quality control services. After the establishment of Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) as an autonomous organization in 1991, the responsibility of seed certification and other quality control services returned to the Department of Agriculture (DOA) again. To provide seed quality control services, Seed Development and Quality Control Services Section (SDQCSS) was established under the Crop Development Division (CDD) of the DOA. After going through several structural changes, this organization became the Seed Quality Control Centre (SQCC) in 2001 and the CSTL was kept under it. The major tasks of SQCC are to conduct seed quality control activities and perform as a secretariat of the National Seed Board (NSB). The Seeds Act 1988 and Seeds Rules 2013 have given the responsibility of seed quality control to various organizations, such as the District Agriculture Development Offices (DADO), seed testing laboratories established by the Government or private sector organizations, NARC, organizations involved in seed production and processing, and seed entrepreneurs under the leadership of the SQCC.

3.2 Role of different agencies involved in seed sector


Maintaining the quality of seeds is a complex task. Various actors have to perform different roles and responsibilities to supply high quality seeds to farmers. The actors involved in maintaining the quality of seeds are presented in Figure 1.

NSB/SQCC Policy

formulation and implementation

NARC Variety development and maintenance, source seed production, laboratory facilities

DOA CDD, VDD, FDD, DOE Farm/centres RSTLs (5) DADOs (75) Programmes: DISSPRO/ CBSP/CBOs

Seed production, processing, lab testing, quality monitoring, infrastructure and facility support

Public Companies NSCL STCL

Seed production, processing, and distribution

Projects PACT IWRMP KUBK AFSP HMRP

Seed production, marketing, infrastructure and facility support

I/NGOs CEAPRED LIBIRD FORWARD

Var development, Seed production, marketing, lab facilities

Private Sector FNCCI/AEC SEAN/SSSC Seed companies Farmers groups Cooperatives Seed entrepreneurs

Seed production, processing, marketing, lab facilities

Figure 1: Actors involved in seed quality assurance and marketing

Academic Institutes Adaptive research and education

DOLS Forage and pasture seed programmes

As presented in Figure 1, the SQCC, which is also the secretariat of the NSB, occupies the central position and has a direct linkage with all other stakeholders involved in seed business. The job of NSB is to release or register varieties developed by the NARC or other organizations and suggest the Government in formulating and implementing relevant policies. The main role of SQCC is to monitor the quality of seeds by itself, or monitor the activities of all other organizations related to seed quality. In addition, this organization performs activities to enrich the knowledge and capacity of seed producers, seed entrepreneurs, and officials working in the public and private sector organizations.

The NARC is responsible for all types of agricultural research. This organization develops varieties according to the choice of farmers and also the need of the country. To maintain the genetic purity, these varieties are maintained in NARC farm/stations. The NARC produces almost all breeder seeds and major portion of foundation seeds. The processing and quality testing of seeds produced by NARC are done by NARC itself. In many cases, seed samples are sent to Government laboratories for quality testing and analysis.

Besides NARC, adaptive types of research are also conducted in agricultural colleges under the Tribhuvan University (TU), Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), and Purvanchal University (PU). These universities and Technical Schools produce required manpower to work in the seed sector.

Department of Agriculture, Department of Livestock Services (DOLS) and projects working in the agriculture sector are conducting extension activities to increase the production of high quality seeds. Farms and stations under the DOA and DOLS produce foundation and certified seeds of different crop varieties and maintain the stock. Regional Seed Testing


Laboratories under the DOA are involved in seed testing and seed certification. Monitoring the quality of seeds at the local level is the major responsibility of DADOs. In addition to quality monitoring, DADOs are providing supports for production, processing, and quality testing of seeds. Different projects working in the agriculture sector, such as Project for Agricultural Commercialization and Trade (PACT), Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project (IWRMP), Kisanka Lagi Unnat Biu Bijan Karyakram (KUBK), Agriculture and Food Security Project (AFSP), and Hill Maize Research Project (HMRP) are providing supports for seed production, developing infrastructure and facilities for seed processing and storage, linking producers to markets, and helping in knowledge management programmes.

Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), such as Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension and Development (CEAPRED), Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LIBIRD), and Forum for Rural Welfare and Agricultural Reform for Development (FORWARD) are working in the seed sector. The first two NGOs are working in the variety development, seed production, processing and marketing activities. The third one is involved mainly in seed production and marketing. These NGOs are providing supports to farmers groups, cooperatives, companies or entrepreneurs in producing and marketing high quality seeds.

There are two public companies, namely National Seed Company Ltd (NSCL) and Salt Trading Company Ltd (STCL) working in the seed sector. These two companies produce cereal seeds in contract basis, receive those seeds, process in their own processing facilities and supply to the market. There are private companies, farmers' cooperatives, groups, and seed entrepreneurs doing similar types of business. However, the focus of private sector is towards highly profitable vegetable seeds. Seed entrepreneurs are working not only in the production and supply of domestic seeds but also in the export and import business.

The efforts of all these actors are to supply good quality seeds of high yielding varieties to farmers when they are required. The increasing demand of such seeds is creating pressure on these actors. As a result, the supply of seeds through formal sector is taking momentum.

3.3 Seed quality parameters The quality of seeds is considered a cross cutting theme in the seed value chain since it is required to be maintained from production to the end use. Therefore, the actors involved in the seed value chain have full understanding of technical and operational aspects of seed quality. The parameters, which determine the quality of seeds, are: genetic attributes, physical purity, seed viability, germination percentage, seed vigour, moisture content, seed health, and uniformity. A brief description of these parameters is presented below.

3.3.1 Genetic attributes Genetic attributes refer the genetic purity as well the genetic ability of the crop or variety to give higher production and better preferential characteristics for use. Genetic attributes of a variety is tested either by conducting grow out test in the field or molecular test in the laboratory.

3.3.2 Physical purityPhysical purity is the composition of pure seeds in a sample. The physical purity of a seed sample is determined by visual examination. The purity components are always expressed as a percentage by weight of the seed sample analysed (Scott, 1980).

3.3.3 Germination capacityGermination is the initiation of active growth of all essential embryonic parts (shoot and roots) required for a successful seedling establishment. Germination capacity is the


percentage of pure seeds germinated in a standard test to give normal seedlings. Germination capacity is tested in the laboratory and expressed in percentage.

3.3.4 Seed viabilitySeed viability is a measure of the percentage of seeds that are alive after storage. The preferable method of testing seed viability in the laboratory is tetrazolium (TZ) test.

3.3.5 Seed vigourSeed vigour is the capacity to emerge from the soil and survive under potentially stressful field conditions and to grow rapidly under favourable conditions. The seed vigour test provides information about the planting value of seed lots in a wide range of environments and/or their storage potential (Muschick, 2010).

3.3.6 Moisture contentMoisture content is the percentage of water in seeds. Seed moisture has a marked influence on the life and vigour of the seed. The moisture content of seed sample is tested either in the store by producers themselves after the completion of cleaning or drying operations, or in the laboratory by laboratory staff. A separate sample is required to be sent in the laboratory for the test of moisture content in seeds.

3.3.7 Seed healthSeed health refers primarily to the presence or absence of disease-causing organisms, such as fungi, bacteria and viruses and animal pests, including nematodes and insects, but may also involve physiological conditions such as trace element deficiency.

3.3.8 Uniformity and seed weightIt is desirable that within a lot, the contents of each sack or bin should be exactly the same, but in practice, complete uniformity is rarely achieved and some sort of variation is always observed. The amount of variation in a seed lot can be measured by performing heterogeneity test of samples for purity and germination. However, determination of heterogeneity requires the testing of a large number of samples per lot, and this makes it unacceptable as a routine test in most countries (Tattersfield, 1977).

Seed quality is also measured from the weight of 1000 seeds. It is normally considered that mature medium and large-size seeds have higher germination and vigour than small and immature seed. The research works conducted so far are supportive to this view and demonstrated a positive correlation between the seed weight and germination percentage and finally the crop yield (Scott and Hampton, 1985).

Seeds Act 1988 and Seeds Rules 2013 made it mandatory to mention the results of routine tests, which include germination, physical purity, and moisture percentage in the label printed or affixed in seed containers. The results of these tests must be obtained from Seed Testing Laboratories established under the public or private sector before supplying domestically produced seeds in the market. The test results must conform the standard approved by the National Seed Board.

3.4 Seed quality assurance system in NepalFarmers are always interested to increase the crop yield by using high quality seeds in their field. The judgment of seed quality can be done by studying the quality parameters described in Section 3.3. The stakeholders involved in seed industry in Nepal have been putting their best efforts, which have been practiced worldwide, to maintain the quality of seeds supplied in the market. However, these activities are not performed to a desired level to fulfil the expectation of farmers.


3.4.1 Internal and external mechanisms of seed quality controlSeed quality assurance is done through two mechanisms: internal quality control and external quality control. Quality control activities performed by individuals or agencies holding the seed is internal quality control and the activities performed by external agencies is external quality control. To assure the quality of seeds to end users, both types of quality control mechanisms are required to be practiced in appropriate time and place. These quality control mechanisms are guided by the enforcement of legal provisions, field standard, seed standard, market monitoring and sample tests, and other practices adopted internationally.

3.4.2 Enforcement of legal provisionsThe quality of seeds is crucial in crop production. Farmers may have to bear severe consequences of crop failure in a minor negligence in the quality and use of seeds. Therefore, production, processing, and marketing of seeds are kept under legal binding in almost all countries in the world. In the case of Nepal, the provisions of Seeds Act 1988 and Seeds Rules 2013 help to increase or maintain the quality from producers to users. The Seeds Act and Rules have some specific provisions, which help to keep Nepalese seed industry within the track and achieve the goal of increased crop production through the supply of high quality seeds.

3.4.2.1 Seed certification and truthful labellingAccording to the Seeds Rules, seed quality control will be done either through seed certification or through truthful labelling. Major differences between these two methods are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: A comparison between seed certification and truthful labelling

SN Seed certification Truthful labelling

1 Breeder seed – Foundation seed – Certified seed – Improved seed

Breeder seed – Source seed – Label seed – Improved seed

2 Voluntary Compulsory if certification is not done

3 Done by authorized agencies (SQCC and RSTLs)

Done by seed producers

4 Set of procedure is followed Flexible, producer s can allocate available time to monitor and check the quality

5 Certification agency is responsible Producers are self responsible

Source: SQCC (2014 b)

As presented in Table 1, there are four categories of seeds in each method. Seed certification is voluntary, but truthful labelling is compulsory if certification is not done. Seed certification is done by authorized agency, but truthful labelling can be done by producers themselves fulfilling the quality requirements. In current practice, seed certification is done by the Seed Quality Control Centre and Regional Seed Testing Laboratories and truthful labelling is done by seed producers or suppliers.

3.4.2.2 Packaging and labellingSeeds, which are marketed in Nepal, should fulfil the packaging and labelling requirements. Seed should be packed in safe and appropriate containers and these containers must be labelled to provide minimum required information to seed users. According to the Act and Rules, the label must provide information about the variety and type of seeds, physical


purity, germination percentage, moisture content, treated with chemicals or not, recommended domain, produced year, date of seed tested, lot number, weight of seeds in the pack, and name, logo and signature of the person or company marketing the seeds.

In addition to these provisions, there are some other prerequisites, which must be fulfilled to sell the seeds in the country. Among them the first one is related to the notification of varieties. The act states that except for research purpose, only the seeds of notified varieties are allowed to transact commercially. With the permission of NSB, the seeds of such varieties can be imported or exported. The second one is related to the eligibility of seed entrepreneurs. To undertake commercial seed business of notified varieties, seed entrepreneurs must obtain license from respective DADO. To monitor the quality of seeds in the field and market, there is provision of Crop Inspector in the Act. Similarly, to monitor the quality of seeds in the market and to handle the matters related to case filing, there is provision of Seed Sampler. The person or agency doing seed business against the Act and Rules can be fined and may be liable to pay compensation. To increase the efficiency of activities related to seed quality control, some of the activities have been opened to private sector in the amendment of Seeds Act in 2008 and the promulgation of new Seeds Rules in 2013. These include the establishment of laboratories, and the business of Crop Inspector, Seed Sampler, and Seed Analyst. The amendment also delegate the power of issuing license to seed entrepreneurs, market monitoring, and filing and hearing cases to DADOs from higher authorities. These changes contribute increasing the awareness level of seed buyers and suppliers, and producing better results in maintaining the quality of seeds in overall seed business.

3.4.3 Field standardsThe quality of seeds later in the chain is highly dependent on how it is produced in the field. The seeds produced in the field will be accepted or rejected on the basis of isolation distance, number of off type plants and diseased plants, and prevalence of objectionable diseases and weeds. The approved minimum field standard of major crops is presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Minimum field standard for major crops seeds approved by the NSB

SN Crops Isolation distance (m)

Max. off-types plants (%)

Max. diseased plants (%)

Objectionable diseases

FS CS FS CS FS CS

1 Oryza sativa 3 3 0.05 0.20 0.20 0.50 Neck blast

2 Triticum spp 3 3 0.05 0.30 0.10 0.50 Loose smut

3 Hordeum vulgare 150 150 For loose smut disease

4 Zea mays 300 200 1.0 2.0

5 Eleusine coracana 5 5 0.1 0.2

6 Brassica spp (mustard) 50 25 0.1 0.5 0.2 0.2 Sclerotenia

7 Glycine max 3 3 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.5 Anthracnose

8 Lens culinaris 10 5 0.1 0.2

9 Brassica oleracea 1600 1000 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.5 Alternaria

0.1 0.2 Black rot

Source: SQCC (2010) Note: FS = Foundation seeds, CS = Certified seeds


Certification of foundation and certified seeds is done in Nepal. Therefore, the NSB has approved field standard of foundation and certified seeds for the parameters presented in Table 2. These standards are very similar to the approved standards of India and other neighbouring countries. The approved standards are same for similar levels of seeds if they are produced in truthful labelling system. In certification system, decision of acceptance or rejection is taken by the technician assigned by certification agency on the basis of monitoring these parameters in production field. In truthful labelling system, seed producers themselves are liable to monitor these parameters and take a decision of acceptance or rejection.

3.4.4 Seed standardsAfter harvesting, cleaning, drying, processing, and packaging, representative samples of seed lot are required to be taken and sent to the laboratory for quality testing. From the test results, genetic, physical, physiological, and health qualities of seeds are determined. Different countries have set their own standards to find out these qualities in the seed lot. The National Seed Board has approved maximum amount of moisture content, minimum germination potential, and minimum physical purity in foundation, certified and truthfully labelled seeds of different crops as basic seed standards (see Table 3). The test results must conform the approved seed standards to send the seeds in the market for commercial transaction.

Table 3: Minimum seed standards of major crops approved by the NSB

SN Crops For certification For both systems

For truthful labelling

Min physical

purity (%)

Max other crop seeds (grain/kg)

Max objectionable weed seeds

(grain/kg)

Max identifiable other variety

seeds (grain/kg)

Min germination potential (%)

Max moisture content

Min physical

purity (%)

Min germination

potential (%)

FS & CS FS CS FS CS FS CS FS & CS A* B*

1 Oryza sativa 98 10 20 2 5 10 20 80 13 97 80

2 Triticum spp 98 10 20 2 5 10 20 85 12 97 80

3 Hordeum vulgare 98 10 20 10 20 10 20 85 12 97 85

4 Zea mays 98 5 10 0 0 10 20 85 12 97 85

5 Eleusine coracana 97 10 20 10 20 75 11 96 70

6 Brassica spp (mustard)

97 10 20 5 10 10 20 85 8 97 75

7 Glycine max 98 5 10 5 10 5 10 75 9 97 75

8 Lens culinaris 98 5 10 5 10 10 20 75 9 98 75

9 Brassica oleracea var botrytis

98 75 8 5 98 70

Source: SQCC (2010)

The same process of acceptance or rejection, as described in Section 3.4.4, is adopted for certified or truthfully labelled seeds by verifying the minimum seed standards presented in Table 3.

3.4.5 Seed quality monitoring in the marketMonitoring the quality of seeds supplied in the market is a major responsibility of the SQCC. In addition, CDD, RSTLs, and DADOs also monitor the quality of seeds. In the course of

Note: A* - normal container, B* - moisture proof container


market monitoring, SQCC officials interact with seed entrepreneurs, observe the condition of seeds kept for sale, and collects samples from the market as per the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) rules. These samples are tested in Government laboratories to find out the physical purity and germination percentage, and the results of tests are sent to the concerned seed entrepreneur as quickly as possible (SQCC, 2014 c). The summary of test results for the past 10 years is presented in Table 4. This type of monitoring helps entrepreneurs to remain aware on the quality of seeds they are supplying and also to learn legal and technical matters related to the maintenance of seed quality during storage and handling.

Table 4: Test results of seed samples collected from the market from FY 2004/05 to 2013/14

SN Fiscal Year Percentage of samples above the approved

physical purity standard

Percentage of samples above the approved

germination standard

1. 2004/05 88 70

2. 2005/06 100 73

3. 2006/07 94 85

4. 2007/08 96 81

5. 2008/09 96 66

6. 2009/10 100 82

7. 2010/11 100 86

8. 2011/12 100 87

9. 2012/13 100 87

10. 2013/14 100 78

Source: SQCC (2014 c)

The data presented in Table 4 suggest that seed entrepreneurs are selling seeds, which are physically pure, but with low germination potential. The result obtained in 2013/14 is not satisfactory as the percentage of samples above the approved germination standards were dropped down this year in comparison to 2012/13.

3.4.6 Information flowThe information about the benefits that can be accrued from the use of high quality seeds is disseminated to seed users through various means. Mass media, such as radio television and internet, trainings, workshops, publication materials are the means, which are used to increase the awareness level of farmers, entrepreneurs, and officials on the maintenance and use of high quality seeds. Information is also provided to relevant stakeholders about the support services that are made available by the Government and non government organizations to increase the production of high quality of seeds. Although the access to information is not enough for all relevant stakeholders, positive result of information dissemination is observed in the demand for high quality seeds. To fulfil the increasing demand of high quality seeds, the number of seed producers and entrepreneurs, seed processing facilities, equipment, storehouses, and the number of seed samples tested in laboratories are in rising trend. However, there are indications that the number of seed samples tested in laboratories will be dropped down in 2014/15 due to a sharp rise in test fees.

3.5 Seed marketing


The role of marketing is to deliver the required amount of good quality seeds of desired varieties to farmers when they are needed. Seed marketing covers domestic production and sales as well as the import and export. Domestic production and sales start from the seed multiplication phase and continue till the seeds reach user farmers via processing and conditioning, packaging and labelling, storing, wholesaling, and retailing. A wide range of activities are performed in all these stages at least to maintain or to increase the quality of seeds so that the end users get maximum possible value from their use. Due to the lack of trained human resources, infrastructure and facilities, and favourable business environment, the actors involved in the seed value chain are unable to meet the expectation of user farmers by supplying domestically produced high quality seeds as per their need. Consequently, Nepalese seed market has to rely on import to fulfil farmers' demand. This suggests that the price of seeds is not a big issue for Nepalese farmers, but their concern is on the quality of seeds and yield potential and other desirable characteristics of varieties.

According to Seeds Act and Rules, specific procedure is required to be followed to import or export seeds. Anybody, who is interested to import or export seeds has to obtain license from DADO to undertake the business of notified seeds. The license holder can get import or export permit from NSB secretariat for the seeds of notified varieties. The number of importers formally importing seeds from different countries was 42 in 2013/14 (SQCC, 2014 c). These importers import seeds from abroad and sell them through retailers. The volume of import is increasing every year since the introduction of permit issuing system in 2010/11 (see Table 5). Independent studies carried out in the seed sector suggest that the quantity of seeds imported informally is quite higher than the figure presented in Table 5 (SEAN, 2014). In case of vegetables, the share of informal import is 76 percent of the total import.

Table 5: Quantity of formally imported seeds in the past four years

SN Crops 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

1 Vegetables 30 59 66 54

2 Maize 225 261 751 787

3 Paddy - 555 953 977

Total 255 875 1770 1818

Source: SQCC (2014 c)

More than 90 percent of imported seeds presented in Table 5 are hybrids. These seeds are imported mainly from Japan, India, Thailand, Korea and China. Due to their high production potential, farmers' attraction is increasing towards hybrids. Crop area under hybrid seeds in maize, rice, and vegetables was estimated to be 10 percent, 2 percent, and 60 percent respectively in 2010 (GON, 2013). There are three domestic hybrid varieties of maize (Gaurav, Rampur hybrid – 2, and Khumal hybrid – 2) and one domestic hybrid variety or tomato (Srijana) recommended for cultivation. Out of these four varieties, only Khumal hybrid – 2 and Srijana are popular among farmers and the supply of their seeds fulfils a very small proportion of the total hybrid seed demand.

The situation of export is quite bleak. Seed export permit has not been issued yet by the NSB secretariat (SQCC, 2014 c). However, the compiled records of Plant Quarantine Offices showed that 50 tons of vegetable seeds were exported to neighbouring countries in 2011/12 (Adhikari, 2013). Some of the seeds of farmers preferred varieties of paddy and wheat are exported to India informally. There are two main reasons behind this situation. The first one is that the seeds produced in Nepal are not sufficient enough to export to other countries.

Quantity: in tons


The second reason is that Nepal is producing the seeds of open pollinated (OP) varieties and the market of OP seeds is going down in South Asia region.

3.6 Comparison of seed quality assurance system of Nepal with neighbouring countries

The situation of Nepal is similar to India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan in terms of the types of crops grown and the awareness level of farmers. There are differences between these countries in terms of legal provisions related to seeds, types of seeds used, field and seed standards, and marketing of seeds. A comparative review of these areas is undertaken in this Section.

3.6.1 Rules and regulationsLegal base is considered the foundation of quality assurance system in every country. A comparison of rules and regulations between Nepal and her neighbouring countries is presented in Table 6.

Table 6: A comparison of seed related rules and regulations between Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan

SN Items Nepal India Bangladesh Pakistan

1 Seeds Act Seeds Act 1988 Seeds Act 1966 Seed Ordinance 1977

Seed Act 1976

Latest amendment or replacement

Amended in 2008

Amended in 1972

Amended in 2005 Amended in 2014

2 Seeds Rules Seeds Rules 1997

Seeds Rules 1968

Seed Rules 1998 Seed (Registration) Rules, 1987

Replaced by new Rules in

2013

Latest amendment in

2014

Seeds (Truth-in-Labelling)

Rules, 1991

Seeds (Control) Order 1983 amended in

2006

Pakistan Fruit Plants

Certification Rules, 1998

Source: Compiled from different sources

The broad scenario of legal documents presented in Table 6 suggests that Nepal is in a better position than the other three neighbouring countries. The Nepalese seed sector has been working under the recently amended Act and new Seeds Rules promulgated according to the spirit of the amended Act. Out of these four countries, legal situation of India is very poor although the country is developing as a seed giant in the South Asia region. To address the emerging issues in seed sector, India has promulgated Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 as per the provision of Essential Commodities Act, 1955, in addition to the Seeds Rules, 1968 promulgated under the provision of Seeds Act, 1966 (GOI, 2014). India prepared a draft of new Seeds Bill in 2004 to accommodate all legal provisions in the same act, but this remains in pending for long duration. The situation of Bangladesh is also not very good. The country developed a draft of new Seeds Act in 2013 to replace the old act and this is still in discussion phase (SCA, 2015). The condition of Pakistan is not encouraging too. Since the parliament passed the amendments in Seeds Act in 2014, the three rules promulgated under the provision of Seeds Act, 1976 became less effective (Ilyas, 2015). Hence, the seed sector of Pakistan is in transition phase from legal point of view.

While going into the depth of these documents, both strong and weak areas are observed in rules and regulations of the Nepalese seed sector. The strong side of the rules and regulations is the incorporation of several private sector friendly provisions during the


amendment of Seeds Act and formulation of Seeds Rules. The first one is the separation of quality control system into seed certification and truthful labelling. This allows the private sector to put truthful label from breeder to improved seeds and market them, if the companies involved in seed production and marketing have developed their capacity to do so. This will give relief for the private sector to go through the routine procedure of certifying foundation and certified seeds. The next one is the establishment of seed testing laboratories in the private sector. Similarly, another provision of the Seeds Act allows private sector to undertake the business of Seed Inspector, Seed Sampler, and Seed Analyst. These provisions, in one hand, provide opportunities to enhance the capacity of private sector to perform these tasks, and on the other hand increase efficiency by saving time and money to do more jobs. During the amendment of Seeds Act and formulation of new Seeds Rules, several activities, which were previously performed by central agencies, have been assigned to the local level. The anticipation of these changes is that seed quality control services will be in the easy access of everybody to ensure the availability of high quality seeds. Most of these provisions are either lacking or are not so much clear-cut in the neighbouring countries of Nepal.

Besides these strong points, there are some weak areas in rules and regulations of Nepal in comparison to neighbouring countries. These weak areas can be described in following points.

A. According to the Seeds Act, 1988, the validity of test results provided by seed testing laboratories is only six months and retesting is required if entrepreneurs want to sell that seed after six month's duration. In many cases, the validity expires before next cropping season. This provision of the act is not in harmony with the neighbouring countries and is somehow unrealistic.

B. The Seeds Rules, 2013 states that at least two season's trial is required to register a variety developed abroad. There is no exemption for any crop in this provision and keeps all crops in the same basket. There are different provisions for different crops in the neighbouring countries of Nepal. Following this procedure for vegetables, flowers, and fruits is found difficult in Nepal. As a result, new varieties of these crops have not been registered in Nepal for the past two years (after the promulgation of Seeds Rules). This increases especially the chances of illegal import of vegetable seeds to Nepal.

C. One of the provisions of the Seeds Rules, 2013 says that the concerned party is liable to pay compensation of crop failure if it happens due to the dissemination of false information on the quality of seeds. The amount of compensation to be paid will be recommended by a committee, on which Senior Agriculture Development Officer (SADO) of the District is also a member. If by any reason, a case has to be filed against the recommendation, the SADO has to give a verdict. Taking decision in the matter recommended by the committee, on which the same person is a member, is against the principle of rule of law.

3.6.2 Seed categories and quality assurance systemNormally, seed production of open pollinated varieties is done for four generations in most of the countries including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The name of these four generations, their production systems, and quality standards are different in different countries. In India, three generations of seeds (breeder – foundation – certified) are certified. A monitoring team, comprising breeder of the variety, concerned project director or his nominee, and a representative of National Seeds Corporation, has been constituted to monitor the quality of breeder seeds. This team decides whether the breeder seeds meet the quality standards for foundation seed production or not. Foundation and certified seeds are required to be certified by certification agencies on the basis of approved quality parameters. Besides these three generations, seeds can be produced for one more generation, which is


called truthfully labelled seeds (Trivedi and Gunasekaran, 2013). These seeds can be the progeny of foundation or certified seeds and are not certified by the certification agency.

In Nepal, seeds can be produced in certification, truthful labelling, or mixed system. In each system, seeds can be produced for four generations as described in Table 1. Currently, Nepal is following the mixed system. Quality maintenance of breeder seeds is left upon the responsibility of concerned breeders. Foundation and certified seeds should meet the approved field and seed standards and are required to be certified by the certification agency (SQCC, 2010). All improved seeds are truthfully labelled seeds till now. These truthfully labelled seeds are also required to meet approved quality standards, but not certified by the certification agency.

Seeds Rules, 1998 defines four generations of seeds (breeder seeds – foundation seeds – certified seeds – truthfully labelled seeds) in Bangladesh (Lagos, 2014). The country has developed certification standards for breeder, foundation, and certified seeds. These seeds are required to be certified by the certification agency according to the approved field and seed standards before being used for the production of next generation seeds. Truthfully labelled seeds are produced normally from certified seeds and are not certified. Commercial seed growers produce these seeds and send them to the market with a truthful label in the containers.

There are four categories of seeds in Pakistan. They are pre-basic, basic, certified and approved seeds moving on from one generation to another (Rana, 2014). Certification standards have been developed for pre-basic, basic, and certified seeds. According to the Seeds Act, 1976, post control trials are required to be carried out for pre-basic, basic, and certified seeds while field inspection is required to be done for basic and certified seeds only. Genetic purity is assessed through crop inspection, and physical purity is assessed though analysis in laboratories. In place of approved seeds, truthfully labelled seeds are produced and sold without certification.

The use of hybrid seeds is emerging in this region as in other parts of the world. Therefore, development of quality standards for hybrid seeds is a need in these four countries. India has done a great job in this matter and developed quality standards for almost all crops. Bangladesh and Pakistan have also developed quality standards for hybrid maize among the major cereals. Nepal has yet to do a lot of works in maintaining the quality of hybrid seeds, which are used in the country. The country has not developed any standard for hybrid seeds of any crop although commercial seed production of one domestic hybrid variety of tomato and one domestic hybrid variety of maize is undergoing. In addition, there are few hybrid varieties of maize, rice and vegetables in pipeline for release or registration.

3.6.3 Types of seeds and their quality standardsTo ensure the supply of high quality seeds to farmers, every country has approved field and seed standards for different generations of seeds. The actors involved in seed production and marketing have to follow the procedures and obtain specified laboratory test results, which conform the quality of seeds approved by the designated authority. These quality parameters vary from country to country. A comparison of these parameters has been done between Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan in Table 7.

Table 7: A comparison of field and seed standards of major cereals between Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan

SN Factor Nepal India Bangladesh PakistanFS CS FS CS BS FS CS PS BS CS

A. Crop: Paddy (open pollinated)Field Standards

1 Isolation distance (m) 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 10 10 3


2 Other crop plants (Max % ) 0 0.10 0.203 Other varieties (Max % ) 0.05 0.20 0.05 0.20 0 0.10 0.50 none 0.05 0.104 Objectionable weeds (Max % ) 0.01 0.02 0 0.01 0.02 none none 0.025 Seed borne disease infected

plants (Max % )0.20 0.50 5 10 20 none none 0.10

Seed Standards1 Pure seeds (min %) 98 98 98 98 99 97 96 99.99 98 982 Inert matter (max %) 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 0.01 1.0 1.503 Husk less seeds (max %) 2 24 Other crop seeds (max per kg) 10 20 10 20 2 5 105 Other distinguishable vars (max

per kg)10 20 10 20 Trace 1% 1% none 0.05

%0.10%

6 Total weed seeds (max per kg) 10 20 2 8 10 none none none

7 Objectionable weed seeds (max per kg)

2 5 2 5

8 No. of seeds infected by diseases (max %)

0.1 0.5

9 Germination (min %) 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 8010 Moisture (max %) 13 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 1211 Moisture vapour-proof

containers (max %)8 8

B. Crop: Wheat (open pollinated)Field Standards

1 Isolation distance (m) 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 10 10 32 Isolation distance from loose

smut in excess of 0.1% for foundation and 0.5% for certified seeds (m)

150 150 150 150 150 150 150

3 Other crop plants (Max % ) 0.01 0.05 0 0.1 0.2 none none 0.054 Other varieties (Max % ) 0.05 0.30 0.05 0.20 0 0.1 0.5 none 0.05 0.105 Objectionable weeds (Max % ) 0 0.03 0.05 none none 0.026 Seed borne disease infected

plants (Max % )0.10 0.50 0.10 0.50 0 12

plants/ha

25 plants/

ha

none none 0.20

Seed Standards1 Pure seeds (min %) 98 98 98 98 99 97 96 99.99 98 982 Inert matter (max %) 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 0.01 2.0 2.03 Other crop seeds (max per kg) 10 20 10 20 2 5 10 none none 0.05%

4 Other distinguishable vars (max per kg)

10 20 Trace 1% 1% none 0.05%

0.20%

5 Total weed seeds (max per kg) 10 20 2 8 10 none none 56 Objectionable weed seeds (max

per kg)2 5 2 5

7 Seeds infested with Anguina tritici Milne, Corynebacterium michiganense pv. tritici and A. tritici Milne complex (Max)

None None

8 No. of seeds infected by karnal bunt diseases (max %)

0.05 0.25


containers (max %)8 8

C. Crop: Maize (composite, synthetics, and open pollinated varieties)Field Standards

1 Isolation distance (m) 300 200 400 200 500 400 400 400 400 2002 Other crop plants (Max % ) 0.1 0.2 0.53 Other varieties (Max % ) 1 2 1 1 0.1 0.2 0.34 Objectionable weeds (Max % ) 0.1 0.2 0.35 Seed borne disease infected

plants (Max % )Seed Standards

1 Pure seeds (min %) 98 98 98 98 98 97 97 99.99 98 982 Inert matter (max %) 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 0.01 2 2


3 Other crop seed (max per kg) 5 10 5 10 2 5 104 Other distinguishable varieties

based on kernel colour and texture (max per kg)

10 20 10 20 2 5 10 none 0.50%

1%

5 Weed seeds (max per kg) None None 2 5 10 none none none


containers (max %)8 8 8 8 8

Source: Compiled from different sources

The compiled information about minimum field and seed standards of open pollinated varieties of three major cereals presented in Table 7 suggests that the standards for foundation and certified seeds have been developed in all four countries, and in Bangladesh and Pakistan, standards for breeders seeds are also developed. Since this is a comparative table and Nepal does not have any standard for hybrid seeds, the quality standards of hybrid rice, maize, and wheat of India and hybrid maize of Bangladesh and Pakistan are not presented in this table. Among the standards given in this table, maintaining genetic quality of breeder seeds is a major concern of neighbouring countries of Nepal. India is doing it through a monitoring team, and Bangladesh and Pakistan are doing it by developing specific standards. Hence, there is a need for Nepal to work out in this area.

The gaps, which have been identified during the review of legal provisions and quality standards of Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, are required to be addressed to harmonize the rules, regulations, and quality standards of Nepal with neighbouring countries. This harmonization will develop the competitive ability of Nepalese seed sector and help in reducing import and promoting export.

3.7 Policy environment for seed quality assurance and use Considering the importance of seeds in overall agricultural development, seed sector remains in the high priority of policy makers. To take Nepalese seed industry towards the right direction, due attention was given in the past in developing separate policy documents as well as covering the seed sector in broad policy documents prepared for the agriculture sector. Seeds Act 1988 and its amendment in 2008, Seeds Rules 1997 replaced by Seeds Rules 2013, Seed Production Guidelines 1998, National Seed Policy (NSP) 1999, Community Seed Bank Guidelines 2009, and National Seed Vision (NSV) 2013 – 2025 are the separate seed related approved policies. Similarly, the seed sector has been well covered in the Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP), National Agriculture Policy (NAP) 2004, National Agro-biodiversity Policy 2006, Periodic plans, and forthcoming Agricultural Development Strategy (ADS). Seed quality maintenance and use is one among the several aspects of the overall seed sector. In this Section, a brief review of policy documents, which address the seed quality issues, is done.

3.7.1 Seeds Act 1988 and Seeds Rules 2013The Preamble clearly states that the promulgation of Seeds Act was felt necessary to maintain the convenience and economic interest of crop growers by providing the seeds of high quality standards through a well planned system of production, processing, testing, and distribution in order to increase the production of different crops. The amendment of Seeds Act in 2008 and the promulgation of new Seeds Rules in 2013 were focussed on delegating the power of central level to the local level, including private sector friendly provisions, harmonizing the rules and regulations of Nepal with neighbouring countries, and giving equal importance to internal and external quality control mechanisms.

3.7.2 Seed Production Guidelines

Note: BS – Breeder Seed, FS – Foundation Seed, CS – Certified Seed, PS – Pre-basic Seed, BS – Basic seed


To increase the use of high quality seeds, an initiative was taken in 1998 to make districts self reliant on the seeds of major cereals. To achieve the goal of self sufficiency, District level Seed Self Sufficiency Programme (DISSPRO) was developed and implemented under the Seed Production Guidelines 1998. The implementation of this programme is a major departure in the seed sector. The programme significantly helps to increases the availability and use of high quality seeds produced and marketed by seed producer groups and cooperatives. Later on, this model was copied to implement Community Based Seed Production (CBSP) Programme and Community Seed Bank (CSB), but separate guidelines were prepared to implement separate programme. A process has already been started to merge all these three guidelines and run a single seed production programme at the District level.

3.7.3 The Agriculture Perspective PlanThe Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP) recognized that the role of research is crucial in increasing crop production and finally increasing the growth rate of agriculture sector from three to five percent per year in 20 year's duration. The plan highlighted that the primary focus of the research system should be to develop new high yielding varieties and produce high quality breeder seeds. All other aspects of seed production and non-research activities need to be diverted to competitive private sector.

3.7.4 The Agricultural Development StrategyThe Agricultural Development Strategy (ADS), upon its approval, will be an overarching policy framework of the agriculture sector after the APP. The ADS is a visionary document for next 20 years with 10 year's action plan and roadmap. Despite dealing the seed sector separately, the ADS asserts on the effective implementation of existing seed policies including the National Seed Vision 2013 - 2025 through sufficient investment in resources and capacity building. This, in turn, will give rise an improved and decentralized seed system that ensures timely access to high quality seeds at affordable price. To empower farmers for the use of high quality production inputs including seeds, the ADS is trying to introduce a voucher system, which will progressively replace the direct subsidies on fertilizers and seeds.

3.7.5 The National Seed Policy 1999The National Seed Policy was approved by the Government in 1999 and brought into implementation to provide a broad framework for the rules, regulations, programmes, projects, and activities operated in the seed sector. The aim of this policy is to develop an effective production and distribution mechanism of high quality seeds considering their immense contribution in achieving the targeted outcome of increased agricultural production.

The National Seed Policy attempts to address seven pertinent issues of Nepalese seed sector. They are: variety development and maintenance, seed multiplication, quality control, participation of private sector in the seed business, seed distribution, institutional strengthening, and the use of modern technology. Although the issue of quality assurance starts right after the development of a variety to the final delivery of seeds to ultimate users, this policy describes quality control in a separate Section. This Section emphasizes the adoption of Quality Declared Seed System (QDSS) to fulfil the seed demand and the involvement of Government, non-government, and private sector agencies in seed testing, seed analysis, seed sampling, and seed crop inspection to maintain the quality of seeds. The role of monitoring the performance of these actors has been assigned to the SQCC. Similarly, Government support for seed pledging has been suggested to save high quality seeds from going into consumption.

Even though the policy has tried to accommodate important issues of the seed sector, some other relevant areas have been uncovered. The most important among them is the maintenance breeding and genetic purity of crops. In the similar manner, infrastructure and facilities for seed processing and storage, faster seed multiplication to popularize high


yielding varieties, seed quality monitoring, seed marketing, and promotion of seed industry have not been addressed properly in this policy. There are some mismatches as well in the content of this policy. For example, one of the objectives of this policy is to promote the export of good quality seeds. Instead of providing details, a similar type of sentence is kept in the text for the achievement of this objective. A due consideration has been given on these issues while developing the National Seed Vision 2013 – 2025.

3.7.6 The National Seed Vision 2013 - 2025The Seed Vision aims to increase crop productivity, raise income and generate employment opportunities through self sufficiency, import substitution and export promotion of quality seeds. For the achievement of this goal, an analysis of seed value chain has been carried out in this vision. The whole value chain has been divided into five distinct stages, namely variety development and maintenance, seed multiplication, seed processing and conditioning, seed marketing, and quality assurance and use. An assessment of existing situation, gap identification, suggested interventions, and action plan have been developed on the basis of this analysis.

The assessment of existing situation identified some strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints of Nepal's seed sector. An updated legal framework in place; functional coordination of NARC with international research organizations; defined roles and responsibilities of different institutions involved in the seed sector under the leadership of National Seed Board; development of minimum infrastructure and facilities for seed processing, laboratory testing, and storage; improved packaging and labelling are the major strengths. These strengths are helping to strengthen the quality assurance procedure in the country. Inadequate availability of seeds of farmers preferred varieties, concentration of breeding programmes on open pollinated varieties, low attention on maintenance breeding and keeping genetic purity of crops, inadequate infrastructure and facilities, and limited human resources are the major weaknesses of Nepalese seed industry. Standardization of breeding practices, coordinate support for decentralized variety development, use of varied agro-ecological conditions for seed multiplication of different crops, harmonization of export import regulations, increasing competitiveness among seed entrepreneurs, increasing awareness of seed users are some of the opportunities. Inadequate varietal choices and limited number of breeding lines, slow varietal replacement, small units of production farms, inadequate production of source seeds, low capacity for seed processing, high cost of production, loose coordination and linkages between value chain actors, high competition with imported seeds, weak extension to inform seed users are the major constraints of Nepal's seed sector.

On the basis of the assessment of existing situation, major gaps in the seed sector were identified. Absence of comprehensive variety maintenance plan, inadequate works on the development of vegetable varieties, insufficient seed stock before the release of varieties, lack of research and development component in the private sector, no concrete policy on hybrid research, lack of incentives for breeders, inadequate coordination between research works in NARC and universities, low use of modern techniques of plant breeding are the gaps in variety development and maintenance breeding. Similarly, poor follow up of national seed balance sheet, disregarding the identified seed production zone of vegetables, noncompliance with contract seed production system, absence of seed crop insurance are the major gaps identified in seed multiplication. No clear policy for buffer stock management, noncompliance to seed quality assurance and processing procedure, use of poor quality packaging materials, old and inefficient processing equipment and facilities are the gaps in seed processing and conditioning. Concentration of private seed entrepreneurs in cities and accessible areas, ineffective demand forecast, custom hassles for seed export, lack of seed market extension, lack of mechanism to popularize new varieties are the gaps in seed marketing sector. Absence of promotion campaigns for the seeds of new varieties, lack of information flow to increase the awareness of farmers, limited monitoring of seed use, lack of


post seed sale services, and low coverage of formal seed system are the major gaps of seed use. Appropriate interventions have also been suggested for each gap.

Major activities and sub-activities have been proposed in the National Seed Vision 2013 – 2025 for each stage of the value chain with tentative costs and sources of financing. According to the estimate, an annual investment of NPR 827 million is required to implement the activities proposed. Out of this amount, NPR 491 million will be borne by the public sector and NPR 336 million will be borne by the private sector. Time duration required for the implementation of these activities and responsible agencies are also identified.

Along with recommendations, the Seed Vision sets some targets for the whole duration. Important among them are the increase in seed replacement rate, human resource capacity, infrastructure and facilities, seed industry development, variety development and use, and institutional reorganization. The recommended seed replacement rate for self pollinated crops is 25 percent. Likewise, for cross pollinated crops, the replacement rate is 33 percent and for hybrids it is 100 percent. Considering the importance of human resources in conducting seed related programmes, the Seed Vision aims to increase the number of trained specialists from 71 in 2010 to 210 in 2025. The Vision also suggests providing grants and scholarships to those committed to work devotedly on particular crops breeding for at least 5 years. Infrastructure and facilities are required to be developed for seed processing, laboratory testing, and storing in ideal structures to maintain the quality of seeds after harvest. The Seed Vision proposed increasing existing seed processing capacity of 25 t/hr to 55 t/hr by 2025. For the test of seeds, the capacity of laboratories testing seed samples needs to be tripled from the existing 13000 samples a year. Similarly, the seed storage requirement needs to be increased from 11,000 tons to 50,000 tons for at least six months' duration. For the overall development of seed sector, there must be a strong private sector. The Seed Vision aims the establishment of four mega seed industries with adequate research and development facilities. With the help of strong private sector and established public sector, the development of hybrid varieties will take a momentum. Altogether 60 hybrid varieties (40 from public sector and 20 from private sector) will be developed and released by the end of 2025. In addition, the number of released open pollinated varieties reaches 423. It will be difficult to achieve all these targets without strong organizational set up. The Seed Vision proposed to strengthen the NSB, which is performing lead coordinating role, with human resources and other facilities. Similarly, to develop the required amount of hybrid varieties in public and private sector, the Vision suggested establishing hybrid research units in each commodity programme of NARC and a hybrid research coordination division at the centre. It also suggested developing policy guidelines for hybrid research and partnership modality with the private sector. The enhanced capacity of the seed sector will support seed production of identified varieties in selected pockets for export.

The National Seed Vision 2013 – 2025 was developed by making wider consultation with all relevant stakeholders of the seed sector. Feedback and suggestions received from different agencies, policy makers, professionals, academicians, development partners, and agricultural wings of major political parties are incorporated in the document before being finally approved by the Government. However, weaknesses are observed in its implementation from the beginning. The attempts of developing an implementation plan could not be fully materialized and the responsible agencies identified to implement the provisions of this vision are not paying full consideration to this document while preparing their programme activities in the seed sector.

4. ResultsThe assessment of quality assurance and marketing system of Nepalese seed industry helps to identify some prominent gaps. These gaps are discussed in this Section.

4.1 Harmonization of rules and regulations


Rules and regulations do not harmonize to each other in Nepal. For example, an agro-vet dealer has to obtain license from DADO to undertake seed business, from Pesticide Registration Section of the Plant Protection Directorate for pesticides, and from Department of Drug Administration for veterinary medicine under different Acts and Rules. There are chances of violation of the provisions of these Acts and Rules as the conditions of obtaining and renewing license differ from one act to another, such as the requirements to obtain license, validity period, renewal process, fees, condition of training, and so on.

Similarly, the provisions of Nepal's Seeds Acts, Rules, and other standards do not harmonize with the Acts, Rules, and standards of neighbouring countries. Differences in the provisions of these rules and regulations may create problems in the export and import business.

4.2 Varietal choice and availability of seedsThe number of domestic varieties is insufficient to address the choices of farmers. Beyond that the formally notified varieties, which were developed outside of Nepal are also found insufficient to fulfil the domestic needs. In such a situation, it is difficult to check the illegal flow of exotic varieties, since farmers and seed entrepreneurs have developed linkages with international companies and get sufficient information about the varieties available in international markets.

On the other hand, seed multiplication process of recently released domestic varieties is very slow. Being unaware on the characteristics of such varieties, farmers are found reluctant towards them and do not want to bear the risk of these new varieties. Instead, they prefer to grow the varieties, which are old and almost in the degenerating stage, e.g. NL 297 of wheat, Masuli of rice. Unless we give sufficient varietal choices to farmers, the job of seed quality control will always remain in a difficult position.

4.3 Human resourcesThe human resources should be well aware on the technical and operational aspect of seed quality from production field to retail outlets. However, very few people involved in this sector have the knowledge on various aspects of seed quality. Also, the number of scientific manpower working in seed research and quality control is insufficient to train others. It has been observed that there is manpower scarcity on one hand, but on the other hand full responsibility of monitoring has not been given to Crop Inspectors at the local level.

4.4 Infrastructure and facilitiesAvailable infrastructure and facilities are inadequate for processing, storing and testing seeds. Seed processing and quality testing facilities developed at the NSCL are very old and inefficient. Traditional methods of seed cleaning, processing, grading, and bagging are used by seed producer groups and cooperatives. These methods are costly, time consuming, and inefficient to meet the current demand of good quality seeds. To meet the minimum seed standards, they need to send their seed samples to the laboratory for routine tests and wait for good results. In addition, they do not have appropriate storage structures to store seeds till the next season. Instead of performing all these operations and bearing storage and market risks, many seed producers use cereal seeds for home consumption.

4.5 Size of seed production unitsSeed production is undertaken in small pieces of land and scattered in several places. This is detrimental to maintain the genetic purity of a crop variety. Quality control becomes difficult when number of producers and other value chain actors increase.

4.6 Awareness of seed usersThe perception of farmers has been developed in such a way that they need to grow hybrids to get better yield. They pay less attention on the quality of seeds they are planting, time of seed sowing and other crop management practices, and recommended domain of the


variety. Some unethical and unfair practices are getting chance to grow up in seed supply to reap the benefits of this perception. This is a big challenge against fulfilling the objective of supplying good quality seeds of desirable varieties to farmers at appropriate time.

4.7 Standards for hybrids and breeder seeds Nepal is lagging behind not only in developing hybrids but also in developing standards for hybrid seeds. Similarly, there are no approved standards for breeder seeds. In absence of approved standards, the quality of hybrid seeds is left upon the responsibility of producers and the quality of breeder seeds is left upon the responsibility of breeders. If concerned producers of these seeds commit a mistake by any reason, users have to suffer. The effects of a mistake in breeder seed production will reduce the quality of seeds at least in other 2 - 3 generations.

4.8 Coordination and information flow in the seed value chainThe seed value chain is highly uncoordinated in Nepal. Due to this weak coordination, information does not flow smoothly in the chain, actors have their independent goals, incentive alignment is poor, and there is lack of trust and transparency.

4.9 Dominance of informal sectorSeed quality control operations are focussed only on the seeds supplied through formal channel. However, majority of farmers use their own saved seeds. Unless the quality of such seeds is increased, the overarching goal of increasing crop production will not be achieved.

4.10 Poor seed distribution mechanismLocal sale of seeds is not possible all the time. Seeds produced in one place are required to be transported to various places inside and outside the country for marketing. Due to poor transport and dealers' network, distribution of seeds inside the country is localized to market centres and accessible areas. Nepali entrepreneurs have to face several hassles, if they want to sell their seeds in the export markets. The reasons behind these hassles are: we have not yet explored the export market for seeds produced in Nepal, identifying markets and linking Nepalese entrepreneurs in those markets are lacking, and we are lagging behind in using rich agro-biodiversity to develop competitive varieties. Therefore, Nepal has to wait for few more years to overcome these problems and get access in the international markets.

4.11 Packaging and labelling of seedsSeeds produced in Nepal are packed in poor quality packaging materials, such as gunny bags and thin polythene sheets. Packing of seeds in such materials reduces their storability. Labelling of containers is also poor in Nepal. In many cases, the labels affixed on the containers do not provide full information about the seeds packed inside it.

5. RecommendationsInterventions are required to overcome the identified gaps and ensure the supply of good quality seeds to farmers. Following recommendations are made to address the gaps that are pointed out in Section 4.

5.1 Legal and policy harmonizationThe common provisions of different Acts and Rules of Nepal are required to be harmonized to reduce the confusion of entrepreneurs. Although the Seeds Act, Rules, and policies of Nepal are latest in comparison to the similar policy documents of neighbouring countries, the common provision of Seeds Act, Rules, and policies of Nepal are required to be harmonized. While doing this, full consideration should be given to the international treaties and conventions, on which Nepal is a member nation.

5.2 Reorientation of research and development activities


The current tendency of indulging NARC on seed production must be reduced and diverted to the private sector. To enable NARC to undertake high tech research, financial support should be substantially increased. Necessary structural adjustments are also required in the NARC to focus on hybrid research and the use of modern biotechnology. As envisaged in the NSP and NSV, the capacity of private sector is required to be developed to undertake research and development activities. Arrangements should be made to start seed multiplication by the private sector instantly after the release of a variety.

5.3 Human resource managementTo expand hybrid research and biotechnology in the NARC and Private sector, the number of scientific manpower is required to be increased as envisaged in the NSV. Similarly, the number of higher level technicians is required to be increased at the SQCC/NSB so that they can train other people involved in seed quality control and seed value chain. Increasing the number of people is difficult and takes time. Therefore, the capacity of manpower currently working in the seed sector must be increased to improve their work efficiency. Considering the limited availability of qualified manpower, a modality has to be developed to work the human resources of the Government, research, academia, and private sector together to strengthen Nepalese seed sector. Such arrangements will also provide the opportunity to learn from one another.

5.4 Development of infrastructure and facilitiesOld infrastructure and facilities should be renovated and new facilities are required to be developed with full set of cleaning, grading, treating, and bagging facilities. Tendency of constructing houses by the name of seed stores should be stopped and the investment in constructing appropriate storage structures should be increased. Necessary supports should be made available to entrepreneurs to purchase seeds from farmers just after harvesting and drying as per the provision of NSP and NSV.

5.5 Enriching the knowledge level of seed usersBetter education and coaching is required to enrich the knowledge of farmers on the benefits of using high quality seeds. This is not possible only by operating programmes through central level agencies. Hence, the importance of the use of good quality seeds is required to be the topics of trainings, workshops, visit, and interaction programmes conducted by the Regional and District level organizations. In addition, the frequency of information dissemination through mass media should also be increased.

5.6 Production support and seed subsidiesZoning concept should be introduced for the production of seeds of different crop varieties. This will be helpful in maintaining the genetic purity and increase the scale of production in a particular area. Support services should be provided to those farmers who are producing seeds of specified variety in that particular area.

There is a need to change the modality of subsidizing seeds. Since the budget allocated for subsidizing seeds is insufficient, eligibility of getting subsidy should be linked with newly released varieties. Farmers or agencies multiplying seeds or growing crops of newly released varieties should be made eligible to get subsidy from the Government.

5.7 Developing standards for hybrids and breeder seedsThis is an appropriate time for Nepal to develop standards for hybrid seeds as there are two popular domestic hybrids under cultivation and several others are in pipeline. There are chances that the hybrids developed in Nepal have export potential. If we do not have standards for the seeds what we are producing, we will not be able to export seeds in the context that India has standards for all hybrids and Pakistan and Bangladesh have standards for hybrids, which they are growing.


Maintenance breeding should be strong to maintain the genetic purity of varieties. Due to weak maintenance breeding, genetic quality of several crop varieties has been deteriorated in Nepal. One of the reasons of this is leaving the whole sole responsibility of maintaining the quality of breeder seeds to breeders. In India, there is a system of certifying the quality of breeder seeds by a panel and in several other countries, there are approved standards. Therefore, Nepal should also adopt a system of certifying breeder seeds.

5.8 Strengthening coordination between seed value chain actorsAn environment should be created for all value chain actors and service providers to work together. Being a central coordinating agency, the SQCC should take the initiation of creating the environment. The SQCC should also take the lead role of implementing the National Seed Vision 2013 – 2025, which is focussed on strengthening the seed value chain.

5.9 Improving the quality of informally supplied seedsDADOs should inbuilt programmes to increase the quality of farmers' saved seeds. Providing training, subsidizing storing materials, and promoting the use of organic pesticides are some of the ways of increasing the quality of farmers' saved seeds

5.10 Strengthening seed quality monitoringThe frequency of monitoring should be increased from the central, regional, and district levels to encourage producers in maintaining seed cycle and fulfilling other quality standards. As per the provision of Seeds Rules 2013, Crop Inspectors should be made responsible for field and market monitoring.

5.11 Improving seed distribution mechanismsThe climate of mid hill and high hills of Nepal are found suitable for long term storage of seeds. We should utilize this natural gift by developing appropriate storage structures in those regions. This will also ease the distribution of seeds in inaccessible areas. For the export of seeds, we should give priority to explore markets in neighbouring countries.

5.12 Improving packaging and labellingPackaging and labelling of seeds create differences in seed marketing. People normally prefer to buy seeds packed in attractive and high quality packaging materials with full of information outside the pack. Therefore, packaging and labelling of seeds are required to be done as per the international standard.

5.13 Create encouraging environment for private sectorsThere are several private sector friendly provisions in seed related policies and legal documents. Involving private sector in research process, truthful labelling system of seed quality control, laboratory operation, human resource development, and undertaking the business of Crop Inspector, Seed Sampler and Seed Analyst are some of the examples. The honest implementation of these provisions by the Government will encourage the private sector to invest more in the seed sector.

6. Activity Action PlanThe action plan for major recommendations has been prepared in Table 8 with the time frame (in short, medium and long term) and responsible agencies to implement those recommendations.

Table 8: Activity action plan for the implementation of major recommendations


SN Major recommendations Time frame Responsible agencies

A. Short term

1 Structural adjustments of the NARC to focus on hybrid research and biotechnology

S NARC

2 Increase mass media campaign to disseminate information about the quality of seeds

S SQCC, DOA

3 Develop standards for hybrid seeds S NARC, NSB, DOA

4 Introduce breeder seed certification system S NARC, NSB, DOA

5 Assign full responsibility to Crop Inspectors for seed quality monitoring

S NSB

B. Medium term

6 Harmonize Seeds Act and Seeds Rules with other Acts and Rules of Nepal and the neighbouring countries

M NSB, MOAD

7 Capacitate the private sector to undertake research and development activities on seeds

M MOAD

8 Capacity development of human resources working in the seed sector

M MOAD

9 Develop a modality to work the human resources of the Government, research, academia, and private sector together

M GON

10 Support seed producers and crop growers for wider dissemination of new varieties

M GON

11 Identify zones for different crop varieties M NARC, NSB, DOA

12 Support farmers to maintain the quality of farmers saved seeds

M DADOs

C. Long term

13 Increase scientific manpower to work in seed research and development

L GON

14 Support entrepreneurs for seed pledging to protect seeds from going into consumption

L GON

15 Construct store houses in mid and high hills to maintain the quality of seeds

L GON

In Table 8, the activities developed from recommendations are categorized into three groups: short term (S), medium term (M), and long term (L). The activities which can be carried out within two years are kept in short term group. Other activities which require two to five years for implementation are kept in medium term group, and more than five years are


kept in long term group. Short term activities can be implemented from lower authorities, such as NARC, DOA, and SQCC/NSB. For the implementation of medium and long term activities broader consensus of different authorities of the Government is required.

7. ConclusionAttempts have been made for a long duration to strengthen the Nepalese seed sector. The amendment of Seeds Act1988 in 2008, promulgation of Seeds Rules 2013, formulation of National Seed Policy 1999 and recently the approval of National Seed Vision 2013 – 2025, and carrying out seed related programmes according to these legal and policy documents is taking Nepalese seed sector towards a positive direction. Progress has been achieved to some extent in developing new varieties of cereals, implementing seed production programmes at the wider level, registering private companies and entrepreneurs, and developing infrastructure and facilities for seed processing, laboratory testing, and storing. However, human resource development, which is considered crucial and highlighted in policy documents for good quality seed production and marketing, has been left unattended in the past. Therefore, increasing the capacity of existing manpower in the short term and increasing the number of qualified manpower in the long term should be taken into highest consideration to achieve the goal targeted in seed related policies.

Another important insight that comes up from the review of Nepalese seed sector is that quality maintenance and improvement of the distribution mechanism of seeds of the varieties what we have will not be sufficient to address the demand of seed users unless we develop a situation, on which farmers can get the seeds of varieties with desirable characteristics in the market. To move ahead for the fulfilment of farmers' demand, a solid foundation has been created in the seed sector through the approval of rules, regulations and policies in the recent past. The need is to implement them with full commitment and harmonize them with other domestic and international rules, regulations, and policies. While going into the implementation phase, extreme care is required to be taken at the source to deliver pure material. Necessary actions should be taken to improve the quality of breeder seeds to maintain it in other stages of the seed value chain and finally deliver the high quality seeds for crop production. It is expected that the implementation of suggested recommendations in this paper will make the Nepalese seed sector vibrant in fulfilling the aim of supplying high quality seeds to farmers in order to increase crop production and raise the standard of living of farm families.


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