Press release from Business Wire India
Source: National Seed Association of India (NSAI)
Tuesday, February 09, 2010 04:05 PM IST (10:35 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Social issues; Business: Agriculture, Media & entertainment; Technology
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National Seed Association of India to Organize First Ever Indian Seed Congress
Event to be held at Hotel Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru from 12th to 13th February 2010 Karnataka CM to Inaugurate the Event
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Tuesday, February 09, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- Seed being the foundation of successful agriculture, the demand for quality seeds of improved varieties is growing fast and adoption of new technologies around the world by the farmers is happening at a fast pace. Production and supply of high quality seed of improved varieties to the grower is a high priority in agricultural growth and development. Highlighting the need for quality seeds for ensuring global food security, the National Seed Association of India is organizing the first ever Indian Seed Congress in India. The two day event will be held at Bangaluru from 12th to 13th of February 2010 at Hotel Lalit Ashok, Bangaluru. The theme of the Congress is "Seeds for Global Food Security" and it will be focused closely on the issues that threaten the food security in India and the rest of the world.
Indian Seed Congress 2010 will be inaugurated by Dr B S Yediyurappa, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka on 12th February 2010.
With India's population estimated to reach 1.3 billion by 2017, the Govt. of India estimates that we may be short of 14 million metric tons of food grains. Abiotic stresses like drought, salinity, high or low temperature and flood are serious problems in India. A growing population and climate change have emphasized the need to meet rising food needs by improving India's crop productivity through the use of technology and innovations in agriculture.
The Indian seed industry has undergone wide range of transformation over the years which include an increasing role of private sector seed companies, rising presence of multinational seed companies with focus on biotechnology, and wide ranging changes in regulatory frameworks, which would affect seed research, marketing, distribution and trade in coming years.
Announcing the event, Mr. Uday Singh, President, National Seed Association of India and Chairman National Organizing Committee Indian Seed Congress 2010, said "It gives me an immense pleasure to announce that the National Seed Association of India is hosting the first ever Indian Seed Congress. This event, being an international event, will also provide a platform for the seeds men of the world to congregate and interact with members of the Indian Seed Industry, and deliberate on various issues concerning the seed industry in Indian and abroad. More than 600 delegates are expected to participate at the event from all over the world. This event will provide opportunity for the delegates to come together and have serious interactions with eminent policy makers, scientists, researchers, breeders and all those involved in the business of seed development and distribution."
The two day event will have technical sessions on issues concerning the seed industry and would like to evolve answers to the issues raised and project them in a forceful manner to the policy makers and decision makers, across the globe. Sufficient space has been allocated for the exhibition of products embodying new technologies and superior genetics and a favourable ambience for carrying out trade negotiations in seeds.
Indian seed market, estimated at US$1.1 billion, and is the 6th largest in the world. Over the years, the Indian seed market has grown at a rate of 12 % compared to less than 5 % growth of the global seed market. Having the largest arable area, India ranks second only to USA in sheer size of agriculture. By virtue of its large arable land area, sizeable irrigated area, rich agri-biodiversity, diverse agro climate and well developed research system, India has all the potential to emerge as a global power in agriculture.
Farmers in India retain seed of major food crops and commercial crops for many years, and the largest volume of seed trade involves local exchanges of established self-pollinating varieties. The seed replacement rate in most crops is very low, with the exception of cotton and some vegetables. The use of hybrid seeds is mostly confined to cotton, and to some extent to corn, millet, sunflower, and few vegetables. However, awareness about the high yield and quality of produce from hybrid seeds, attracting farmers to switch over to hybrids, is growing at a fast pace. Agri-innovations have been successful in India. Bt cotton, the only biotech crop technology approved for cultivation, helped India become the world's second largest producer and second largest exporter of cotton by doubling the nation's cotton productivity within seven years of the launch of the technology in 2002.
Following the easing of government regulations and the implementation of a new seed policy in 1988, the private sector seed companies have started playing a major role in seed development; marketing and distribution. More recently, the government's decision to embrace biotechnology as a means of achieving food security has attracted several leading biotechnology focused multinational seed companies to India. The composition of the seed industry, by volume of turnover, has reportedly reached a ratio of 60:40 between the private and public sectors.
Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the seed sector between private sector seed companies and public research institutes under ICAR, SAUs, and the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), is growing. Public sector breeder seeds are available free of charge to private seed companies with no strings attached.
The Indian seed industry needs policy support to make even bigger contributions in the future with regard to encouragement for investment in research and Infrastructure; minimal regulation and compliance; freedom to operate based on free market principles; and streamlining of regulatory processes to accelerate the development and introduction of new genetically modified technology.
About National Seed Association of India (NSAI):
The NSAI recently came into being with the amalgamation of four seed Association, namely Seed Association of India (SAI), Association of the Seed Industry (ASI), India Seed Industry Association (INSIA), and All India Crop Biotechnology Association. Presently about 200 companies are members. The vision of NSAI is to create a dynamic, innovative, and internationally competitive, research based industry producing high performance, high quality seeds and planting materials which benefit farmers and significantly contribute to the sustainable growth of Indian Agriculture. And the mission of NSAI is to encourage investment in state of the art R&D to bring to the Indian farmers superior genetics and technologies, which are high performing and adapted to a wide range of agro-climatic zones. It will actively contribute to the seed industry policy development, with the concerned governments, to ensure that policies and regulations create an enabling environment including public acceptance so that the industry is globally competitive. NSAI advocates (a) equitable consideration of all matters affecting the seed industry, (b) the interest of sustainable agriculture globally, (c) enhanced exchange of the superior genetics within the country and form across the borders, (d) increased global trade in seeds (e) the welfare and economic prosperity of the Indian farmer. NSAI will also promote harmonization and adoption of best commercial practices in production, processing, quality control and distribution of seeds. NSAI provides a forum for consultation between the Members and the concerned Ministries of Government of India, ICAR, Certification Agencies, State Government and with different international agencies.
CONTACT DETAILS
Laxmi Narayan, Mutual Public Relations, Bengaluru, +91 9845144299, narayan@mutualpr.com
Shashank Shekhar, Mutual Public Relations, Bengaluru, +91 9538228966, shashank@mutualpr.com
KEYWORDS
SOCIAL, AGRICULTURE, MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY
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