Seed replacement rate drops as farmers buy from open market

BHUBANESWAR: Though broadcasting (seed sowing) of kharif paddy is almost over and raising of nursery and transplanting of paddy going on in full swing across the state, sale of certified paddy seeds to the farmers till date continues to be less than 50 per cent.

The state government has programmed to supply 4.38 lakh quintal-quality seeds to farmers for the kharif crops in 2024. The target for supply of paddy seeds was 3.8 lakh quintal as against a requirement of nearly 8 lakh quintal at the rate of 20 kg per hectare.

According to latest figure available from the state-run Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC), the agency responsible for production and supply of certified seeds to the farmers of the state, only 1.85 lakh quintal of paddy seeds have been sold which is 47 per cent of the target.

“Sale of certified seeds is a measure of seed replacement rate (SRR) of cropped area covered with quality seed. SRR has a direct bearing on productivity augmentation and enhancement in farmers’ income and is one of the means for doubling the farmers’ income. Curiously, the SRR of the state is rapidly reducing after introduction of direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme in 2015-16,” sources in the corporation said.

Prior to the introduction of DBT, the corporation was selling about 5 lakh quintal of paddy seeds when farmers were getting the subsidy benefit directly. After DBT came into play, most of the farmers preferred to buy from the open market.

Explaining the farmers’ preference for open market seeds, the sources said, “Under DBT they have to pay the full cost of the seed upfront to get the subsidy later. Since farmers of the state have liquidity crunch, they go for open market seeds which come cheaper.”

The corporation has been requesting the government to do away with the DBT scheme and return to the old method but the government has not paid heed. As a result, the corporation is incurring huge losses year after year, it added. The sale of paddy seeds was less than 2 lakh quintal in 2023 kharif which was 2.57 lakh quintal in 2022.

The grim scenario of state’s seeds replacement rate has also been reflected in the Odisha Economic Survey 2023-24 which was tabled in the Assembly recently.