Role of Quality Seed in Food Self Sufficiency and Security in Nepal

Seed quality is the possession of seed with required genetic and physical purity that is accompanied with physiological soundness and health status. A country’s development is based on quality seed as “A country can never be food secure if it is not seed secure”. Seed security can be obtained when farmers in the country have access to quality seeds at the right time and reasonable price.

Significance of Quality Seed

Ensures genetic and physical purity of the crops.
Gives desired plant population.
Capacity to withstand the adverse conditions.
Seedlings produced will be more vigorous, fast growing and can be disease incidence to certain extent.
Ensures uniform growth and maturity.
Development of root system will be more efficient that aids absorption of nutrients efficiently and result in higher yield.
It will respond well to added fertilizers and other inputs.
Good quality seeds of improved varieties ensure higher yield at least 10-12%.

Seed, being the key agricultural input plays a vital role in developing the resilient agricultural sectors and food systems ensuring food security and nutrition and support the livelihoods of farmers and other actors of value chain. A seed lot is expected to travel several phases for multiplication, production and processing and packaging before it reaches to farmers. But along with the increment in the number of cases of COVID-19 patient, government has been extending the lockdown period creating the restrictions in movement and transportation for the prevention of COVID-19. This has seriously affected the production, certification, distribution and cost of seed with their greater impact on developing countries and least developed countries.

Increased attraction toward hybrid varieties than own local varieties has changed Nepal’s state from self-reliant to a dependent country for seed and plant genetic resources. Nepal has very high level of dependence on other countries for accessing plant genetic resources for research and development activities as about 73% of crop varieties released in our country have foreign ancestors and for crops like wheat, potato and lentils, which is close to 80%. It has been reported that Nepal was a seed exporting country till 90s of vegetable seed along with 30% maize seed and 15% of rice seed are being imported from other countries.

Some examples of great losses that occurred in Nepal are:

a. Barren cobs of maize in Bara district: due to illegal entry of unregistered seeds across border, poor quality seed, failure in fertilization, high anthesis silking interval heat and drought stress between tasseling and silking stage.

b. 2013, Neck blast and bacterial leaf blight: paddy planted in 16 VDCs in Bhaktapur amounting to 20,000 tonnes and worth of Rs. 80 million was destroyed. This was due to the recommendation of seed which is suitable for terai region but not for hills.

In the recent context of pandemic of COVID-19, due to closed border, import process of food has been declined and self-production of country became insufficient to feed 3 crores population of the country resulting to food insecurity. On the other hand, district to district movement, movement within local level has been restricted and so has been done for transportation. Therefore, food transportation has also been limited. So, to secure food security and self-sufficiency, quality seed must be used. Food security is the availability, accessibility, affordability of food by every person at any time. Self-sufficiency can be achieved at individual level, community level, regional level and national level.

To ensure food security, quality seed plays a crucial role. For better production and productivity farmers must have access to certified quality seeds. The seed is said to be of quality if it is produced scientifically and is distinctly superior in physical, genetic, physiology and pathological parameters. It should meet seed certification standard to be of good quality. Food security is the state that exists when all people have physical and financial access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that needs their dietary needs and the food to live an active and healthy life. Making Nepal self-reliant on the quality seed will surely meet the food need with its production, which will need the country into a path of food self sufficiency and food security and a stable economic state.

The one and only solution for future food security and self sufficiency is increment in crop yield. But for the increment in crop yield/ productivity, it is impossible to increase the land for cultivation but instead the better way is to use quality seed. A quality seed means it consist of a smaller number of off seed, less disease, pest chances, true to type.

The quality seed have been found to increase crop productivity by 20-30% compared to the farmers local informal sources.
The quality seeds have better crop stand traits and the input efficiency is seen, which will ultimately lead to the food security condition.
The quality seed will not only ensure food security and self sufficiency but will also be a blessing to farmers to ensure their health, economic state by the high production.
Farmers will be more motivated towards the production of the food and help maintain the food production. Distribution of the quality seeds to the rural part will increase the production. They will be able to uplift their lifestyle and contribute to the increment in the country’s GDP.

Thus, increasing the quality of seed can increase the yield potential of the crop by significant folds. Hence, increase in yield can assure self-sufficiency at individual level, community level, regional level ad finally at national level assuring food security.

Writer: Neha Sah (Student, IAAS, Paklihawa, Rupandehi)