Developing climate-friendly variety of seeds

There is no denying about the need for seeds of good quality for getting better crop for consumption at home and also for export. Historically, farmers by themselves produce their own seeds, but in order to get quality ones, there is a need to maintain international standard so that crop  production can  be improved. Significant research to improve the quality of seed production is now underway, and thus seed has become an important industrial sector  considering modernisation of agriculture through use of technology with increasing demand for food and nutrition.
The Seed Association of Bangladesh and the Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) raised the issue in the seventh private sector development policy coordination committee  established at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).  Its concept note says that the definition of seed has been changing with the passage of time along with evolutionary changes and development of science and technology.
In the context of depletion of land with the increase of population and real estate, high production in limited amount of land is essential and thus need for quality seeds for increasing production is one of the important priorities.
Seed supply and its trade in Bangladesh has to be looked into in both ways, public production and management, management and distribution by the private sector and with support from NGOs.  The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation
(BADC) has been the only public sector seed marketing organisation which supplies 90-95 per cent quality seeds of the formal sector. Public sector endeavour for production and marketing of seeds had begun in 1954 with creation of 22 seed farms covering an area of 2,200 ha.
The BADC--former EPADC--was established in 1961. It started marketing in 1970. In 1977, the seed ordinance was passed. In 1993, the government announced the national seed policy while in 1998 seed rules were promulgated. Work on amendment to the seed policy is now going on.
If we look back at the history of seed production in Bangladesh, it is seen introduction of modern inputs in agriculture began with the recommendations of the Agriculture Commission, in 1960. The Agricultural Development Corporation was established in 1961, following the recommendations of the Agricultural Commission. The BADC enjoyed virtual monopoly and command over quality seed market since long. This has been prevailing till date except vegetables and hybrid seeds which are supplied mainly by the private sector.
The study conducted by CSRL- an organisation that works for rural development since 2007, mentioned that since 1997, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) established a rice seed network called 'Sustainable Rice Seed Network'. Purpose of the network is to ensure continuous supply of breeder seeds to the seed networks and improve the knowledge of all categories of seed- producing agencies. It is reported that some of the companies (like Syngenta) and NGOs (like BRAC, Grameen Krishi Foundation etc.) had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the BRRI to obtain breeders' seeds.
The seed sector runs through several evolutions and presently sees growth of a strong private sector to contribute to the economy and thus needs policy support to flourish further. The USA, Australia, India, France and many other countries recognise seed sector as an industry. In Bangladesh, the Industrial Policy on Seed Processing and Preservation has been included as one of the agro-sector activities and agro-product/food processing industry but not as an industrial priority sector.
From recent statistics, it is found that Bangladesh has quite a big seed market, size of which is about Tk 40 billion with a 10 per cent growth rate. Presently 100+ local and 10+ multinational companies (MNCs) are operating in the market. Local demand is about 1.25 million metric tons.  Only 20 per cent of the local demand is met by the formal sector. Local demand for seed is increasing. More than half a million farm labourers are engaged in the sector. Potential to increase yield is tremendous. From the source of the sector, it is reported  that there has been 20 per cent to 200 per cent potential yield increase due to quality seed usage supplied by the formal sector. There are about 2,00,000 plus registered dealer shops in the country. Private organisations like ACI, BRAC, United, Supreme and Lalteer developed the market and some more are coming up.
More than 90 per cent vegetable seed has been replaced by formal sector by 2005. Around 100 per cent of hybrid rice seed has been replaced by the formal sector by 2001.  Private sector contribution is 100 per cent in this sector. Hybrid rice seed produced locally saved US$ 24 million.
Even if production in the formal sector has increased, still there remains a huge gap between production and demand.  Requirement of quality seeds in 2011-2012 was 9,32,250 metric tonnes against this  supply was only 1,86,450 MT. It means only 20 per cent of the total need can be met by local production. Among the total requirement, public sector quality seed was 15.47 per cent and private sector was 4.53 per cent. Balance 80 per cent was farmers' own seeds and imported seeds, quality of which was almost unknown or poor. If this gap is minimised, food crop production can be increased further.
The recent expansion of the private sector seed companies has resulted in the engagement of thousands of farmers in the formal seed production chain. This has led to improved livelihoods of the rural community. The past decade has also been marked by a transition from open pollinated varieties to hybrid ones deriving maximum utilisation of the existing land mass. With an advantage in accessing technology, the private sector has marked strong footprint in this sector to date.
Almost 100 per cent hybrid rice seed is locally produced. Hybrid paddy seed production, preservation and marketing channel are mostly organised by the private sector. As mentioned earlier, supply of over 90 per cent vegetable and corn seed comes from the private sector which is now capable of producing world-class high-value hybrid vegetable variety bred locally.  Storage facilities are almost sufficient  as major seed companies enjoy this facility.  A significant amount of foreign exchange is being saved by ensuring high productivity which has led to take a share in the world market. For generating demand-driven crop variety, promoting modern innovations to the end-users, a good number of quality workers has been engaged in the private sector.
With rapidly increasing population, the demand for cereal foods, especially rice, is expected to rise by over 1.5 per cent per annum for the next few decades. An estimate indicated that by the year 2020, about 37 million tonnes of food grain will be required. In view of this enormous challenge over the next decade in achieving food self-sufficiency and ensuring food security, Bangladesh's domestic food production has an important role to play in the quest for food security. The global seed market in 2012 was 10.5 billion US dollar and is being projected to be valued at $86 billion by 2018. North America is the largest seed market in the world in terms of revenue and is projected to grow rapidly. Latin America is the fastest growing market for seed. China, Brazil and India are also growing markets. Bangladesh has all the potential to join the league if a concerted effort is made.
There are various kinds of market participants from public and private sectors  involved in the seed production and commercialisation process in the country. Some public sector organisations and  institutions and public universities are responsible for R&D and have come up with new varieties. The BADC is responsible for multiplying and commercialisation of public materials. The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is responsible for extension and promotion of new varieties. Private sector participants who have large capacity are involved in all the related activities starting from variety development to commercialisation. Small private companies are mostly involved in trading operation. Some NGOs are also involved in R&D seed production and commercialisation to some extent.   
Climate change has affected agricultural communities badly, especially in the coastal and northern regions of the country. The private sector would need to look into the issue of developing climate-friendly variety of seeds for which extensive research is required. BUILD in its seventh private sector development policy coordination committee meeting raised the issue of acknowledging the sector as one of the thrust sectors with required R&D facilities and ensuring favourable investment climate to attract more investment in this sector. The private sector also believes that support, similar as being given to readymade garment (RMG) and shipbuilding sectors, could  give a boost to the seed sector  to develop further to meet not only the local demand but also for export.  
The PSDPCC gave a positive look into the issues and requested the concerned ministry to include seed as a priority sector and encourage concerned organisations for more R&D to produce new varieties so that self-sufficiency in food and nutrition supply can be maintained.
The writer is CEO, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD).
ceo_build@outlook.com