The problem of labour availability has brought in some cheer for the seeds industry, especially in South India.
“The seed replacement rate in paddy is increasing in South India in view of the labour problem,” said Dr M. Ramasami, Managing Director of Salem-based Rasi Seeds Pvt Ltd.
The replacement rate is around 95 per cent in paddy, according to him.
According to Government statistics, the seed replacement rate in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for paddy is 82 per cent and 67 per cent respectively till 2008. The seed replacement rate is also higher in the case of maize since hybrids are being used. Even in paddy, the increased preference for hybrids is seen as the reason for the rise in seed replacement rate.
Till 2008, the all-India seed replacement rate was 25.87 for paddy, while it was marginally lower for wheat at 25.23. The seed replacement rate is higher for maize (corn) at 44.24 per cent and bajra at 48.47 per cent.
“Even in traditional varieties, farmers are going for seed replacement due to labour shortage. It needs labour to keep the seeds separate, process, dry and then store them,” Dr Ramasami said.
Economic viability
On the other hand, adoption of methods such as the system of rice intensification (SRI) in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is also helping.
“Earlier, farmers were asked to use 30 kg seeds on an acre. With methods such as SRI, it is enough for them to use just 5 kg. It is economically feasible for them to buy seeds now,” he said.
Rasi Seeds, as part of its efforts to improve research and development in rice, has moved its rice research station to Hyderabad from Salem in Tamil Nadu.
It has also set up research stations for vegetables in Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), Gurgaon (near New Delhi) and Bangalore (Karnataka), said Dr Ramasami, who was here to attend the fifth World Cotton Research Conference.
“We have entered the vegetable seeds market aggressively in the last three years since it offers us better scope,” he said.
Rasi Seeds is more popular for its cotton seeds but the fact that the crop is grown in only nine States has forced the company to expand its activities to other crops and horticulture. The company has also started marketing maize seeds for the last three years.
On cotton, Dr Ramasami said that his company was field-testing a variety that would grow more closely. “We are conducting field trials in the North and may commercially release it next year,” he said.
The variety, by growing closely, will help in better fertilisation, irrigation and also ease problems of picking during harvest.
Asked how much the variety would yield, he said: “It is a better yielding one.”
On mechanisation of cotton cultivation, he said breeders or seed makers would have to be given proprietary rights or seed production costs would have to be drastically lower. “It will take time for mechanisation but these things will have to happen,” he said.
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