| Market
Watch
Private cos to be allowed
to buy seeds
ISLAMABAD-Pakistan has agreed to
Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s demand of extending all the
private seed companies of the country "unrestricted access" to
breeders enabling them to obtain newly developed seeds /
varieties from government research institutes to produce them
on commercial basis, The News reliably learnt.
Earlier, government breeders were not allowed to sell new
developed seeds / varieties to the private seed companies as
they were required to provide such seeds to the Punjab and
Sindh Seed Corporations only. Both the corporations are now
being privatised in order to break the existing official
monopoly over seed production in the country.
Sources in Agriculture Ministry said the government has made a
firm commitment to the ADB that no new public sector seed
corporations will be established and private sector will be
encouraged to replace the official business.
Sources said in this regard, the government has formally
informed the ADB authorities that private sector will soon be
allowed to buy seeds from the government breeders. The
development is actually part of Second Agriculture Loan
Programme for which the ADB has just given $350 million.
According to available documents exchanged with the ADB in
this regard, a total of 74,000 to 80,000 tonnes of certified
seeds are marketed with wheat seed accounting for about 91 per
cent and cotton seed about 6 per cent. The private sector
accounts for about half of the seed market, partly attributed
to the agriculture programme.
Agriculture Ministry officials however fear that due to weak
control of government over the private sector and in the
absence of required regulation to bridle it, the farmers will
suffer in the shape of high rates for various crops' seeds as
it happened in the case of fertilisers.
But, Agriculture Ministry sources regretted that both the
Finance and Agriculture Ministries bosses were least
interested in the welfare of farmers as they were signing loan
agreements with the international donors without calculating
their negative impact on the rural and farmers economy.
Documents suggest that there are in all about 300 private seed
companies including 4
multinationals in the country. However, most of the certified
seed distributed by the private sector is imported seed, and
the restricted access to government research institution's
varieties and low demand have not discouraged the
establishment of seed farms in the country. Documents said
Punjab and Sindh Seed Corporations were largely involved in
loss incurring operations and discouraging private sector
investment in domestic seed farm.
Courtesy The News, December 29,
2001
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