From Participatory Seed Production to Self-sufficient Sustainable Seed System for Rice

From Participatory Seed Production to Self-sufficient Sustainable Seed System for Rice

Under National Seed Project, Farmer’s Participatory Seed Production was taken up with the involvement of farmers of Mahanga block. In 2013-14, seed production of variety Pooja had been taken up in an area of 50 acres at Goudagop, Mahanga, Odisha with an agreement with Mahanga Krushak Vikash Manch. About 368.72 q seed that qualified for TL Seed Standard were procured and after processing 376.20 q seeds were sold to the farmers as TL Seed. In 2014-15, seed production of variety Pooja and Gayatri had been taken up in an area of 80 and 20 acres, respectively, at Goudagop, Mahanga, Odisha. About 874.368 q seed that qualified for TL Seed Standard were procured and which after processing were sold to the farmers as TL Seed. In 2015-16, Farmer’s Participatory Seed Production was taken up in two villages namely Goudagop, (Mahanga) and Bhandilo, (Kendrapara) in agreement with Mahanga Krushak Vikash Manch and Mahatma Gandhi Farmer’s Club respectively. Seed production involved four popular varieties of NRRI viz., Pooja, Sarala, Gayatri and Swarna sub-1. About 1005.751 q seed that qualified for TL Seed Standard were procured and after processing were sold to the farmers as TL Seed.

Although, Participatory Seed Production model has a lot of advantages, it lacks the element of sustainability and scalability. It is heavily dependent on NRRI for sustaining which is not possible to carry out for a long time. Hence, the model was modified to incorporate sustainability and scalability.  The revised model was called Self-sufficient Sustainable System of Seed for Rice (4S4R). This system has taken into the consideration the problems of formal seed system and provides solutions using IT and FPO in 4S4R model which will make seed available at local level to all farmers according to their need, in right quantity, of right quality, with lower cost of production & supply and with timely delivery which present Formal Seed System has failed to deliver.

Dr. AK Nayak, Director (Acting) addressing the participants

Dr. GAK Kumar, PI of the project addressing the participants

4S4R (Self-sufficient Sustainable System of Seed for Rice) model was capitalized and operationalized. As a result 4S4R model was implemented on project mode with the financial assistance from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi in Mahanga block itself. To begin a One day Awareness Programme cum Workshop was organized on 4S4R (Self-sufficient Sustainable Seed System for Rice) on 27 July 2016 at ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha. The programme was inaugurated by Dr. AK Nayak, Director (Acting) in presence of scientists, farmers and state officials. Dr. GAK Kumar, PI of the project, explained that the programme aimed at creating awareness about the 4S4R concept which focuses on local seed production, processing and marketing system.

A section of audience

The objectives of the programme include i) Developing 4S4R Paddy Seed Production Portal having Paddy Seed Production Expert System for Odisha; GIS based solutions for planning paddy seed production at block level using land and resources maps; MIS for seed demand, seed availability, seed price and seed supply for local marketing; and mobile based solutions for farm advisory service for seed production by farmers group. ii) Developing participatory training module on paddy seed production and FPO formation. iii) Imparting trainers training on paddy seed production and FPO formation to KVK staff and block level agriculture officers and iv) Developing FPO consisting of farmer-producers group, processing unit and marketing unit at block level. SWOT analysis and Analytical Hierarchy Process were employed to prioritise the issues related to local seed system. Lecturettes were delivered by Dr. GAK Kumar, PI, Dr. RK Sahu, CoPI and Shri MK Sharma, DAO Salepur during the workshop. The programme ended with vote of thanks by Dr. BC Patra, ITMU.