Quality seed crisis hits Aman farming in north
Friday, 13 July 2007
Our Correspondent
NILPHAMARI, July 12: The Aman cultivation in the country's northern region is seriously affected due to crisis of quality seeds in the local markets, sources said.
According to Nilphamari seed certification office sources, less than 1.0 per cent of paddy seeds are certified seeds and the rest are non-certified ones, which the farmers traditionally store in their own homes either for selling or for their own use.
Although different kinds of attractive paddy seed packets are available in local markets, most of the seed packets hardly bear requisite information on them, something that is mandatory according to the seed rules.
Contacted, Azmal Hossain Mondal, seed certification officer based in Nilphamari, said traders use attractive seed packets that never contain requisite information on them. And in this way they often deceive the naïve farmers.
He further said there is also differences in the price of same category of seeds in the shops of the seed dealers.
He said when one kilogram (kg) of BRII quality seeds of BRAC is being sold at Tk 40, the same quality of BRII seeds of Gochihata is being sold at Tk 120 per kg.
In this situation, farmers in the region are demanding direct government intervention in the matter.
NILPHAMARI, July 12: The Aman cultivation in the country's northern region is seriously affected due to crisis of quality seeds in the local markets, sources said.
According to Nilphamari seed certification office sources, less than 1.0 per cent of paddy seeds are certified seeds and the rest are non-certified ones, which the farmers traditionally store in their own homes either for selling or for their own use.
Although different kinds of attractive paddy seed packets are available in local markets, most of the seed packets hardly bear requisite information on them, something that is mandatory according to the seed rules.
Contacted, Azmal Hossain Mondal, seed certification officer based in Nilphamari, said traders use attractive seed packets that never contain requisite information on them. And in this way they often deceive the naïve farmers.
He further said there is also differences in the price of same category of seeds in the shops of the seed dealers.
He said when one kilogram (kg) of BRII quality seeds of BRAC is being sold at Tk 40, the same quality of BRII seeds of Gochihata is being sold at Tk 120 per kg.
In this situation, farmers in the region are demanding direct government intervention in the matter.