Note of Information for the National seed Association of

India (NSAI) proposal on Capacity Building program

Initiatives for Indian Seed Industry as part of AtmaNirbhar
Bharat program submitted to NABARD

1
Contents
1. Overview of the seed industry – Structure of the industry, size of the industry, major players of
the sector (Organised and Unorganised) and their respective crop-wise share in the total turnover of
the industry ............................................................................................................................................. 3
2. Crop-wise Seed Exports – Existing and potential............................................................................ 9
3. Region & Crop-wise Seed producing regions of India................................................................... 12
4. Crop wise and Region wise, prominent varieties in demand and their availability...................... 17
5. State wise and Crop wise SRR and VRR vis–a-vis targeted SRR & VRR ......................................... 23
6. Demand and Supply Position of seeds of major crops and future projections of seed
requirement vis-a-vis projected crop projections (2030) ..................................................................... 26
7. Current Seed Processing Infrastructure - Areas of upgradation (Machinery requirements and its
indicative cost). ..................................................................................................................................... 29
8. Existing credit arrangements for seed industry - quantum of credit disbursed to seed processing
industries .............................................................................................................................................. 32
9. Issues related to the credit flow to the seed production and processing - both Organised and
Unorganised sectors ............................................................................................................................. 34
10. Scope for FPOs in seed production ........................................................................................... 35

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 1. Overview of the seed industry – Structure of the industry, size of the
industry, major players of the sector (Organised and Unorganised) and
their respective crop-wise share in the total turnover of the industry

Indian Seed industry is a sub-sector within Agri-input sector of Agriculture and allied
industry. Seed is the primary input in Agriculture, which encapsulates the genetics of Plant
variety. At the core of Indian Seed Industry is Plant variety development through
conventional plant breeding in the process of genetic improvement of crops. Plant variety
therefore is the key product of seed industry, with each new variety showing incremental
advantage over pre-existing varieties. The seeds of such identified best varieties are
evaluated for their suitability for specific agro-climatic conditions before commercialization
and then multiplied through standard seed production process, tested for genetic purity and
seed quality standards, processed and then marketed to farmers across various distribution
channels. The seed industry is structured based on different functions of the overall
production process.

Marketing &
Distribution

Processing and
Quality
confirmity
assessment

Seed
production

R&D (Plant
breeding,
Agronomy&
Biotechnology)

3
Another important dimension of seed industry is seeds being self-replicating entities based
on their nature of reproduction which is a natural life process. In most of the self-pollinated
crops like foodgrains, pulses, oilseeds and certain vegetable crops, forage crops, fruit crops,
sugarcane, potatoes, etc., seeds can be directly produced by farmers from the agricultural
output produced by them. Such seed is called Farm Saved Seed (FSS), which is widely
prevalent in many of the crops mentioned above. However there is an increased trend of
farmers replacing the FSS with newly purchased seed once in every 2-3 years.

The increasing trend of Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) by farmers in various crops expands
the size of commercial seed industry. Over the period of time the SRR of various crops has
been increasing from 10% to more than 50% in many of the crops where Open Pollinated
Varieties (OPV) seeds are used. This leads to a large section of farmers using FSS and being
out of purview of the commercial seed industry. It should be noted that in case of crops
where hybrid seeds are used, the SRR is 100% as the farmers cannot re-use the seed for the
next generation as re-use of hybrid seed leads to dilution of genetic purity due to genetic
segregation of characters in the next generations.

Globally the growth of seed industry and especially private seed sector happened over the
harnessing of the concept of Hybrid vigour or Heterosis, where the hybrid seeds express
significant improvement in economic attributes over the parent varieties. Hybrid seed
initially launched in crops like Maize, Millets, Cotton, Vegetable crops, etc, have also been
developed in Rice, Mustard, etc. However in many of the self-pollinated crops, like Wheat,
Pulses, groundnut, etc., the concept of heterosis is yet to be harnessed and as there is no
significant advantage of hybrid seed over varietal seeds. Therefore still OPV seeds are
utilized in crops like Wheat, Rice, Redgram, Greengram, Blackgram, Soybean, Groundnut,
etc.

The seed industry in India is a mix of large, medium and small seed companies in public and
private sector. While certain large companies have competencies in all the industry
functions such as R&D, Production, Processing, marketing and distribution, small companies
specialize in one or more functions. It is to be noted that the Indian seed sector developed
on the strong foundation laid down by public sector research institutions in 1960s and 1970s
since the era of green revolution.

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The public sector is represented by the National Seed Corporation (NSC) and the State Seed
Corporations (SSCs). Currently there are nearly 700+ seed companies in India both in private
and public sector. The public sector research of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has not only fuelled the development of
Indian seed industry, but also continues to drive the industry with continuous delivery of
new improved plant varieties of Plant varieties to both Public and private sector.

The Indian seed industry is regulated by Seeds Act, 1966 which regulates the quality of
seeds sold to farmers. The Seed Control Order, 1983 oversees the process of licensing for
conducting of seed business. In general private sector specializes in high value hybrid seeds
and varietal seeds and offers them to farmers as Truthfully Labelled (TL) seeds, public sector
specializes in high volume OPV seeds and offers them to farmers Certified Seeds. The Indian
seed sector is valued at USD 3.0 Bn dollars and is the 5th largest globally as per NSAI
estimates. The Farm saved seed saved and used by farmers and exchanged between
farmers is not included in market size. However with respect to exports, India has a
miniscule share and has a huge opportunity to become a global seed hub. The seed industry
landscape of depicted below. The unorganized sector also includes seed and propagating
materials, nurseries.

Globally Genetically Modified (GM) crops came into existence in 1995 and in 2002, the
Government of India gave permission of large scale environmental release and therefore
commercialization of GM Cotton (also known as Bt Cotton). By 2010, 85% of Indian Cotton
was converted into GM Cotton and presently nearly 99% of Cotton grown in India is GM
Cotton. Bt Cotton is the only GM crop allowed for cultivation in India. Presently India has the
fifth largest GM cropped area in the world and the GM Cotton market in India is nearly 16%
of the total commercial seed market in India.

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 Rs22500 cr (USD 3.00 Bn)
Indian Seed
industry

Varietal-12500 cr
Varietal Hybrid
Hybrid-10000 cr

Unorganized
Organized-22500 Cr Organized Organized
&FSS

The Indian hybrid seed industry is estimated at Rs 10000 crores or USD 1.33 Bn. The entire
hybrid Cotton seed market is GM Cotton seed and therefore GM seed market is nearly 16%
of the total seed market and 35% of the hybrid seed market. The crop-wise share of Indian
seed industry for hybrid seeds is given below.

Vegetables
26% Cotton
35%
Millets
Oilseeds
4%
4%
Maize Hybrid Rice
18% 13%

Cotton Hybrid Rice Maize Oilseeds Millets Vegetables

SNo Crop Mkt size vol (in MT/Pkts in Value in Rs Cr

Cotton)
1 Cotton 5 crore pkts 3650
2 Maize 1.2 lakh tons 1800
3 Rice 60000 tons 1200
4 Millets (Bajra,Jowar,Forages) 30000 tons 500
5 Oilseeds (Sunflower,Mustard) 5000 tons 225
6 Others 25
7 Vegetable seeds 2600
8 Total 10000

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The Indian OPV seed industry is estimated at Rs 12500 crores including nurseries and crops
where vegetative planting material is utilized as seed or propagating material. The
commercial OPV seed industry falls under both organized and unorganized sectors. The
estimates for unorganized seed sector and FSS are not available and may be valued at
atleast 20-25% more than estimated value of the industry which pegs the market size at
USD 3.6 Bn to USD 3.75 Bn. The unorganized sector sells both branded and unbranded
seed, however the estimates of revenue of branded seeds are not available are it is sold in
informal channels out of seed quality regulation. The FSS comprises farmer’s seed is part of
farm produce which is used for sowing and also exchanged between farmers in unbranded
manner. The crop-wise share of Indian seed industry for hybrid seeds is given below.

Others Rice
15% 15%

Vegetables
7%
Wheat
15%
Oilseeds
7%

Pulses
15%
Soybean
26%

SNo Crop Value in Rs Cr

1 Rice @ 50% SRR 3000
2 Wheat@ 50% SRR 3000
3 Millets (Maize, Jowar, Forage crops,etc) 500
4 Pulses (Soybean and Grams) 3000
5 Oilseeds 500
6 Vegetables (Potato, Onion, OPV crops) 1000
7 Planting material (Nurseries, Horti crops,etc) 750
8 Others (Sugarcane,Tobacco, Jute,etc) 500
Total 12500

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With respect to the various players in the seed industry landscape, the industry has
domestic seed companies, Multinational companies (MNCs), domestic MNCs, small and
medium R&D driven companies, Small and medium companies specializing only in one or
more industry functions, NGOs involved in seed production, Public sector companies, FPOs
specializing in seed production, etc. Based on the industry structure as mentioned above,
key players with end to end industry functions including R&D are presented in the table
below.

Category Key Players (indicative only)

Seed companies with Revenue over MNCs: Corteva, Bayer,Syngenta
Rs500 cr revenue) Domestic: NSC, NSL, Advanta, Rasi, Kaveri

Seed companies with Revenue over Rs MNCs: BASF, Limagrain, East-West, CP

200-Rs 500 cr Domestic: Seedworks, Ganga Kaveri,
Mahyco, Ajeet, VNR seeds, Mahabeej, Tata-
Rallis, etc.

Seed companies with revenue less than MNCs- Sakata, Tokita, KnownYou, Nongwoo,
Rs 200 cr) Domestic- Hytech seeds, Ascen-Hyveg,
Namdhari, Tulasi, Veda seeds, JK seeds, Nath
seeds, Krishidhan seeds, Pan seeds, Pallishree
seeds,Kalash Seeds, Doctor seeds, GreenGold
seeds, etc.

In addition to the R&D driven above companies with all the industry functions, there are
companies which specialize only in Seed production and processing or companies which
focus only on marketing of seeds by licensing Plant varieties from other companies.

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 2. Crop-wise Seed Exports – Existing and potential

The global seed industry market size as per OECD report, 2018, 1 is estimated at USD 45 bn
in 2012 and presently at USD 52 Bn. The market is growing at a CAGR of 5%. India stood at
sixth position as per statistics in 2012, however presently India is at 5 th position.

Sno Country Mkt size in USD % Mkt size % global

Bn in 2012 as global in USD bn share
per ISF data share in 2019-20

1 USA 12 27% 13 25%

2 China 10 22% 11 21%
3 France 2.8 6% 3.5 7%
4 Brazil 2.6 6% 3.2 6%
5 Canada 2.1 5% 2.8 5%
6 India 2 4% 3.1 6%
7 Japan 1.4 3% 1.7 3%
8 Germany 1.2 3% 1.4 3%
9 Argentina 1 2% 1.1 2%
10 Italy 0.8 2% 1 2%
11 Turkey 0.8 2% 0.8 2%
12 Spain 0.7 2% 0.85 2%
13 Netherlands 0.6 1% 0.6 1%
14 Russia 0.5 1% 0.6 1%
15 UK 0.4 1% 0.5 1%
16 South Africa 0.4 1% 0.5 1%
17 Australia 0.4 1% 0.5 1%
18 S.Korea 0.4 1% 0.5 1%
19 Mexico 0.4 1% 0.5 1%
20 Czech Republic 0.3 1% 0.4 1%
21 RoW 4.4 10% 4.8 9%
Total 45.2 100% 52.25 100%

While India is the fifth largest seed industry globally, it has a miniscule share in global seed trade.
The total global seed exports are valued at USD 13.8 Bn market size of seeds of Field crops, tree
crops, Potato, Flower crops and Vegetables crops as per ISF data 20182. Netherlands leads in global

1
OCED (2018)- Concentration in Seed markets, Potential effects and Policy responses, OECD publishing Paris.
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/9789264308367-5-
en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/9789264308367-5-en

2
ISF data-https://www.worldseed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Export_2018.pdf

9
seed exports with nearly USD 2.88 bn, followed by France with USD 1.97Bn and USA with USD 1.93
bn. India exports USD 137million worth seeds per year, which accounts to approximately 1% of the
total global exports.

GLOBAL SEED EXPORTS -USD BN

Veg.crops, 4.6

Field crops, 8

Tree crops, 0.019

Potato, 0.935
Flower crops, 0.33

GLOBAL SEED EXPORTS -TOP COUNTRIES

Netherlands
21%
Others
33%

France
14%

Spain
2%Italy
3%
Hungry
Denmark
3% USA
Germany
3% 14%
7%

India also imports USD 137 million seeds especially cool season vegetables, Forage grasses, etc.,
from Europe and other countries as per 2018 ISF data. The global imports 2018 data also show that
out of the USD 13bn imports, Netherlands is the top importer at USD 1.1 Bn seed imports followed

10
by USA (USD 1.09Bn) , France (USD 828 mn), Germany (USD 751 mn), Spain (USD 631mn), Italy (USD
582mn), Mexico (USD 508 ), Russia (USD 451 mn), China ( USD 374 mn), and Japan (USD278 mn).

GLOBAL SEED IMPORTS -IN USD MN

Netherlands, 1100,
8%

USA, 1090, 8%

France, 828, 6%

Others, 6407, 49%

Germany, 751, 6%

Spain, 631, 5%

Italy, 582, 5%
Mexico, 508, 4%
Russia, 451, 4%
China,
Japan, 278, 2%374, 3%

With enormous geographical and agro-climatic diversity, there is an excellent opportunity

for India for exporting seeds to both sub-tropical and tropical regions of the world. Further
India has skilled manpower for catering needs of R&D in plant breeding, Biotechnology,
seed production and seed technologies which create an enabling environment for India to
become a global seed hub for breeding varieties for varied global markets and to undertake
custom seed production. With similar agro-climatic conditions and edaphic conditions,
Indian Plant varieties have an excellent fit in South Asian, South East Asian and African
countries.

Future opportunity: With proper capacity building in seed production processes,

Digitalization of supply chain and quality infrastructure development, India can ramp up its
exports to atleast USD 500 mn in the next five years and further to USD 1Bn within 7-8
years. However this needs big policy reform push from Government for strengthening the
capacities of domestic seed sector, ease of doing business, significant investments in R&D,
coupled with accreditation based seed quality systems will enabled harnessing the business
opportunity particularly in similar agro-climatic regions in Asian and African continents.

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 3. Region & Crop-wise Seed producing regions of India

India has diverse agro-climatic zones, which describe suitability of agriculture crops in a land
or a region in terms of a combination of major climatic patterns, temperature, water
availability and soil types. India has 15 major agro-climatic zones and 127 agro-climatic
regions and 20 agro-ecological zones based on soils classifications. The cropping patterns in
different States of India is also dependent on the agro-climatic suitability of particular crops
in India. The total land area in India is 328 mha out of which 156 mha is arable land 3. As per
2018-19 data the total cropped area in India for major crops is given below.

S. No. Crops Seasons 2017-18** 2018-19*

Kharif 39.35 39.42
1 Rice Rabi 4.44 3.96
Total 43.79 43.38
2 Wheat Rabi 29.58 29.08
3 Barley Rabi 0.66 0.72
Kharif 1.9 1.56
4 Jowar Rabi 3.07 2.45
Total 4.97 4.01
5 Bajra Kharif 7.38 6.7
Kharif 7.62 7.54
6 Maize Rabi 1.85 1.59
Total 9.47 9.13
7 Ragi Kharif 1.2 0.95
Kharif 18.63 17.23
8 Nutri/ Coarse Rabi 5.58 4.77
Total 24.21 22.00
Kharif 57.98 56.65
9 Cereals Rabi 39.59 37.81
Total 97.57 94.46
10 Tur (Arhar) Kharif 4.43 4.27
Kharif 3.29 3.31
11 Moong Rabi 0.97 0.94
Total 4.26 4.25
Kharif 4.5 3.92
12 Urad Rabi 0.94 0.91
Total 5.44 4.83
13 Gram Rabi 10.56 9.67
14 Lentil (Masur) Rabi 1.55 1.5

3
CACP report- https://cacp.dacnet.nic.in/ViewReports.aspx?Input=2&PageId=39&KeyId=669

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 Kharif 14.08 13.21
15 Pulses Rabi 15.91 15.08
Total 29.99 28.29
Kharif 72.06 69.86
16 Foodgrains Rabi 55.5 52.88
Total 127.56 122.74
Kharif 4.1 4.06
17 Groundnut Rabi 0.81 0.79
Total 4.91 4.85
18 Soybean Kharif 10.47 11.28
Kharif 0.13 0.12
19 Sunflower Rabi 0.15 0.17
Total 0.28 0.29
16 Sesamum Kharif 1.56 1.56
17 Nigerseed Kharif 0.22 0.18
18 Mustard/RM Rabi 5.96 6.24
19 Safflower Rabi 0.07 0.04
Kharif 17.32 17.98
20 Nine Oilseeds Rabi 7.33 7.55
Total 24.65 25.53
21 Cotton 12.43 12.35
22 Jute 0.68 0.68
23 Mesta 0.06 0.05
24 Jute & Mesta 0.74 0.73
25 Sugarcane 4.73 5.06

For Gross cultivated area of 167 mha in 2018-19, the total seed requirement in India is met
by both Public sector, Private sector and Farmer’s own saved seed (FSS). While larger
private sector companies specializes in hybrids and certain OPV crops, the public sector
corporations such as NSC and SSCs focus on supply of certified seeds to farmers. While
elaborate and specialized seed production practices and processes are required for hybrid
seeds, OPV seeds are produced using normal off-type screening and rogueing standards are
practiced for OPVs. Based on seed rate, seed replacement rate (SRR) and seed multiplication
rate (SMR), the area and seed requirements are calculated4. For Cotton the volume is
counted in no.of packets of each packet weighing 450g to 475g as 99% of Cotton in India is
Bt Hybrid Cotton. The total seed requirement in MT of major crops per year is given in the
table below.

4
https://seednet.gov.in/PDFFILES/National%20Seed%20Plan.pdf

13
SNo Crop Total Area Seed rate per Total seed Total seed Major States where seed
(Million acre (kg/acre) production requirement production is undertaken
Acres) or Pkts/acre in requirement for OPV @
Cotton volume per year 50% SRR for
(Pkts for cotton Rice,Wheat
MT for all other and
crop)@ 100%SRR Soybean
1 Cotton 31 1.75 5,Cr Pkts 5 Cr pkts Gujarat, AP,Telangana,
Tamilnadu,Maharashtra
2 Rice- 98 25 24,50,000 tons 12,25,000 AP, Telangana, UP, MP,
varietal tons Maharastra, Gujarat,
Chattisgarh
3 Rice hybrid 11 6 66000 tons 66000 tons Telangana
4 Wheat 75 40 30,00,000 tons 15,00,000 UP,Uttarakhand,Punjab,H
tons aryana,MP,
5 Soybean 28.2 30 8,46,000 tons 4,23,000 MP,Karnataka,Maharastr
tons a, Telagana
6 Maize @ 22.82 8 182600 tons 14608 tons AP, Telangana,
80%hybrid MP,Karnataka,
Maharashtra
7 Bajra @ 16.75 1.5 25125 tons 20100 tons AP, Gujarat, Rajasthan
80% hybrid

Almost all the hybrid seed production happens in specialized pockets in States like
Karnataka, AP, Telangana, Gujarat, Mahrastra, UP, Uttarakhand, MP, Odisha, etc., where in
farmers have acquired specialized skillset over a period of time for performing specialized
operations for production of hybrid crops. However commercial OPV seeds production
happens in almost every State. The National Seed Corporation (NSC), State Seed
Corporations, Cooperative societies, FPOs, NGOs and other organizations in each of the
States mostly undertake certified seed production of OPVs seeds.

Some districts have acquired high level competencies in hybrid seed production. For
example, Karimnagar and Warangal in Telangana accounts for more than 80% hybrid paddy
seed production in India. Similarly West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh and Khammam
in Telangana specialize in Hyrid Maize production. Haveri and Koppal districts in Karnataka

14
are famous for vegetable seed production and Gadwal district of Telangana, Kurnool district
of Andhra Pradesh and Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, specialize in Cotton production. The
crop-wise and state-wise seed producing regions are given in the table below.

SNo Crop Avg Seed No.of Seed production regions/Districts

output Acres
1 Hybrid Paddy 650-750 140,000 Karimnagar (TS), Warangal (TS), Khammam
kg/acre (TS), Kurnool (AP), Mahbubnagar (TS),
Raichur (KTK),Koppal (KTK), Raipur
(Chattisgarh),etc
2 Hybrid Maize 1 ton/acre 150,000 West Godavari (AP),Khammam (TS),
E.Godavari (AP), Prakasam (AP),Kadapa (AP),
Karimnagar (TS), Warangal (TS), Nizambad
(TS) ,etc
3 Hybrid Bajra 500 kg/acre 70000 Kadapa (AP), Nizambad (TS), Ballari
(KTK),Anantapur (AP)
4 Hybrid 400 kg/acre 15000 Nizambad (TS), Sabarkantha (Guj), Jalna
Mustard (Maha)
5 Hybrid Cotton 350 kg/acre 150000 Mahboobnagar (TS), Kurnool (AP), Koppal
(KTK), Sabarkanta (Guj), Attur (TN), Akola
(Mah),etc.
6 Hybrid Tomato 60 kg/acre 2000 Haveri, Koppal and Davangere districts of
(Karnataka) Buldhana (Maharashtra)
Bayad of Aravalli (Gujarat)
7 Hybrid Okra 150 kg/acre 12000 Aravalli District (Gujarat), Haveri, Gadag,
Koppal and Davanagere (Karnataka)
Buldhana district (Maharashtra)
9 Hybrid Chilli 120 kg/acre 1000 Koppal, Haveri and Davangeri districts of
Karnataka, Buldhana district of Maharashtra
10 Hybrid 40 kg/acre 3000 Koppal, Tumukur, Chikmangalore and
Watermelon Davangere district of Karnataka, Buldhana
district of Maharashtra, Aravalli district of

15
 Gujarat
11 Wheat 1500 kg 7.5 lakh UP,Uttarakhand,
acres MP,Gujarat,Rajasthan,Haryana, etc.
12 OPV Rice 1800 kg 10 lakh Telangana, AP, Odisha,AP, West Bengal,
acres UP,UK,MP, Punjab, Haryana
13 Soybean 700 kg 2 lakh ha MP, Maharastra, Telangana
14 Redgram 800 kg NA Northern Ktaka
15 Greengram 400 kg NA AP,Karnataka,Maharashtra
16 Groundnut 1000 kg NA Gujarat,AP
17 Bengalgram 600kg NA MP,UP,Gujarat

Hybrid seeds of Cool season vegetables like Cauliflower, Cabbage and other cole crop give
higher seed yields of good quality in Mediterranean climates in countries like Italy, Spain,
Chile, etc. and such seeds are imported into India by many vegetable seed companies.
However within vegetable seeds onion and Potato are the major high volume contributing
crops. While Onion seed is majorly produced in Buldhana, Jalgaon, Nasik, Jalna and
Aurangabad districts of Maharshtra and Gulbarga district of Karnataka, Potato seed is
produced in Punjab,UP and West Bengal. In case of horticultural crops and fruit crops,
nurseries supply vegetative planting material in major growing hubs, like
Kadapa,Nalgonda,Wardha, Nagpur regions for Citrus fruits, Krishna, West Godavari and East
Godavari districts for Mango, Solapur for Pomegranate,etc.

16
 4. Crop wise and Region wise, prominent varieties in demand and
their availability

The prominent varieties and hybrids in major States of India in major crops is given below.
The public sector varieties are highlighted in red color. If the State has insignificant area or
no cropped area of a particular crop, then no varieties are shown in the table.

State OPV. Rice Hybrid Maize Bajra Bt Cotton Hyb.Mustard Wheat

Rice
AP MTU 7029, MC-13, NMH-8352 NBH-4903 RCH-659,
BPT5204, Sampada, Arize Winner, Balwan, Tulasi- Akira,
Sonam, NLR 34449 6444, PAC-751, Venus NCS-929
NPH-X4, NK 7720, Navneeth,
Champion PHI-3396, Goldcot, US-
DKC-9120 7067
Telangana RNR-15048, BPT- Bioseed- NK-30, PHI RCH-659, Ajeet-102,
5204 MTU-1010, Tanatan, 3401, DKC- Sadanand, Mahyco
Omkar, Ankur Puja K-468 9133, Bond Goldcot, Goal,Ankur-
and PAC- Moksha, Jangi Kedar, NSL-
751 Ruchi,
Nirmal-
Nirbhay
Karnataka RNR-15048, Jaya, VNR- NK-6668, PHI-36 M Jaadu, 7383, Lok-1,
BP-5204,MTU- 2233, PHI-3550, 35, 7067, Yuva, Ankur-
1001, Omkar dhanya- DKC-9133, Dhanya- Supercot Kedar,
MC-13 Bond, PHI- 778, Super Ajeet-102,
30 B 07 Boss, Eagle-
Balwan Sushika,
Nirmal -
Nirbhay- JK
Pithamber
Tamilnadu Ponni, ADT-37, NK-6668, Rasi 659,
Mahindra Dhanya ATM, Jaadu,
606,sonal, aman, 8255, DKC- Mahyco Jangi,
Siri, NLR 34449 9133,NK- Bioseed Yuva
30, 30 B 07,
PHI-3302,
NK-6240,
Maharashtra Jaya, PKV-HMT, Arize- PHI-3401, Dhanya- RCH-659, Ankur-
MTU-1010, 6444, PAC-751, 7872, 86 M Dhandev, US- Kedar,
Jaisriram, Karjat-3, 6129, NK6240, 38, 7067, Ajeet-102,
YSR, Zordar, D1008 US312, Hitech5101, Mahyco- Dhanya- Greengold-
Mahyco- DKC-9141, 204, Aathis, Nsl - 23, Srirama-
5629, NK-6668 Mahodaya- Raja 111, Rasi-
Raja 318, Thunder,
339,Nirmal- Mahyco-
9 Mukut
Gujarat Nath poha, US-312, PHI-3546, 86 M 11, Kaveri-ATM, 45 S 42, 45 S 35, GW-496,

17
 Gujarat-13, 6444, MC- Rasi-4558, 86 M 20, Jaadu, Rasi- Bayer- 5222, Lok-1,
Gujarat-17, Gurjari, 13, Indo NK-6668, Super boss, 659, Raja, Baioseed- Sriram-111,
Ankur Sonam american Kaveri- K- Dhanya- Nawab Sonalika Ankur-
022, 50, PHI- 7883, kedar, Rasi-
Advanta 3502, Rasi- Bayer- Thunder,
837 4794 9444, GW-373
Biostad-
Nandi-5
Chattisgarh MTU-1001, MTU- Kaveri- NK30, PHI Ajeet-102,
1010, MUT-7029, 468, US- 3401, PAC- Mahyco
Mahamaya, Komal, 312, 751, DKC- Goal,Ankur-
Silky Bayer 9162, NK- Kedar, NSL-
6444 6668 Ruchi,
gold, Nirmal-
Advanta Nirbhay,
837, Shriram-111
Madhya IR-64, MTU-1010, Bayer- NK-30, PHI- 86 M 84, RCH-659, Kalasona, nathi Sriram-111,
pradesh Nathpoha, 6444, 3401, NK- Gold cot, sona, Talia, PHI- Sriram-303,
Dhaftari-1008, D- Kaveri 6240, PAC- Jaadu, 45 S 42, Bayer- 1544,Lok-1,
125, YSR 468, MC- 751, DKC- Moksha, 5222 mahyco-
13, PAC-- 9126 Magic, Goal
807,
Champion
UP Pusa 1509, Kaveri- DKC-9108, Super Boss, 54 S 42, 45 S 46, HD-2967,
Sharbathi, 1121, 468, PHI- DKC-7174, 86 M 90, bayer 5222, Sriram-303,
Sampoorna, Moti, 27 P 37, PHI-1899, 86 M 84, Sriram-1666, mahyco
Prasanna, Dhamini, Bayer simsim bayer- Savanna- 2042 Goal, Ankur
Sarju-51 6444, 9001, Kedar,
Mahinda Nandi-75 Savanna
3030, Jk 1734, NSL
2082, Taj Veer
Punjab Pusa 1121, Pusa Savanna DKC-9108, Rasi-776, 773, 45 s 46, 45 S 42, Sriram-272,
1509, 1718, 134, DKC-9162, US-71, Advanta 414, Sriram-252,
Sugandha, Savanna PHI-1844, Simsim, Bayer Bayer 5222 HD 3086,
Sharbathi 127, PHI-1899, 7172, HD-2967,
Kaveri PHI-3401, SW 23
468, DKC-9144
Bayer
shift gold,
Phi-27 P
68
Haryana Pusa 1121, Pusa Savanna DKC-9108, 86 M 90, Rasi-776, 773, 45 s 46, 45 S 42, Sriram-272,
1509, 1718, 134, DKC-9162, 86 M 84, US-71, Advanta 414, Sriram-252,
Sugandha, Savanna PHI-1844, Bayer Simsim, Bayer Bayer 5222 HD 3086,
Sharbathi 127, PHI-1899, 9001, 7172, HD-2967,
Kaveri PHI-3401, Bayer 9444 SW 23
468, DKC-9144
Bayer
shift gold,
Phi-27 P
68
HP Pusa 1121, Pusa DKC-9108, 45 s 46, 45 S 42, Sriram-272,
1509, 1718, DKC-9162, Advanta 414, Sriram-252,
Sugandha, PHI-1844, Bayer 5222 HD 3086,
Sharbathi PHI-1899, HD-2967,
PHI-3401, SW 23

18
 DKC-9144

Rajasthan NK-30, 86 M 90, Money 45 s 46, 45 S 42, sriram-231,

Dhanya- 86 M 84, Maker, Rasi Advanta 414, Sriram 252,
8255, Bayer Jet, Bayer- Bayer 5222, Mahyco
Bioseed- 9001, Surpass 7172, MRR-8030 Goal, Rasi
369, Balwan, Rasi-776, Spark, Raj
Advanta Dhanya- Ankur 3028 3077,
751, Phi- 7179,Super
3502, DKC- Boss
9180
Bihar Mudhha, Ankur Bayer PHI-3355, PHI-45 S 42, 45 Sriram-303,
Sonam, Sourabh, 6444 NK-7720, S 46, Bayer 5222 Mahyco
Rajendra manshuri, gold, PHI- DKC-9165, Goal, Ankur
MTU-7029 27 P 31, PHI-3388, kedar, Lok-
MC-13, DKC-9120 1, Sriram-
Pioneer- 404
27 P 63,
Kaveri
468
Jharkhand MTU-1010, IR-64, Kaveri- Kanchan-
Sourabh, MTU- 468, MC- 25, NK-30,
7029, Aman 13, 27 P Advanta
31, 6444 751, Phi
gold, Tej 3377, JK
gold 502
West Bengal IET 4786, MTU KPH 468, 3355 @ 45S 42, 45S 46, Shriram 303
1010, GB 1, MTU PAN Corteva, Sakata 555 & & Ankur
7029 & BB 11 2423, 9081 @ Bayer 5111 Kedar
6444 & Bayer, NK
MC 13 6607 @
Syngenta,
Sultan &
Kaveri
Bumper @
Kaveri
Seeds
Odisha MTU-7029, MTU- Kaveri- DKC-9126, Supercot,
1010, MTU-1001, 468, PHI-3401, Shalimar,
Sampada, Sadhana Bayer PHI-3396, Rasi-659,
6444, US- Advanta- Thadaka
312, 751
Bayer
Arize
bold,
Syngenta
5231,
Dhayna
MC-13
Assam GB 1, BB 11, MTU NK 5231, 9081 @
7029 & Ranjit PAN Bayer, 1107
2423, @ TATA &
VNR 2245 3355
& INDAM @Corteva.
200 017

19
20
 Prominent hybrid seed varieties supplied by private sector in vegetable crops is given below

State Tomato Chilly Okra Watermelon Onion

Andhra BASF-US-440 Mahyco- Advanta-Radika Namdari-NS-295 East West-Prema
Pradesh Tejaswini
PHS-448 BASF-Amrour Advanta-Navya BASF-Maxx Jindal-Red Diamond
Syngenta-Sahoo BASF-US-341 Namdari-NS-862 Pahuja-Arun Ellora Seeds-Ellora
Telangana PHS-448 BASF-Tejaswini Advanta-Radika Sagar seeds-Sagar East West-Prerana
king
Unisem-Kapila BASF-US-341 PHS-Surabi Kalash-Melody Jindal-White marlobe
BASF-US-440 Hyveg-Sonal BASF-Singham Namdari-NS-295 East West-Prerana
Karnataka Syngenta-6242 Seminis-Sitara Mahyco-10 BASF-Maxx East West-Prema
Seminis-Virang Syngenta-5531 BASF-Shakti Kalash-Melody Indoamerican-Marshal
Syngenta-Sahoo Indo American- Hyveg-Sahiba Namdari-NS-295 Kalash-Flare
Indam-5
Tamilnadu Hyveg-Shivam Mahyco-Sierra Advanta-Jonny Namdari-NS-295 East West-Prema
Syngenta- Nongwoo-Kiran Advanta-Radhika PHS-Suman Ankur-Nasik red
Meghadooth
JK seeds-Akshaya BASF-Priyanka BASF-Selvam Syngenta-Sugar Malleshappa &co
queen
West Bengal Hyveg-Sakham Hyveg-Eagle Advanta-Radhika Sakata-Sato Kalash-Sukh Sagar
Kaushal Astha Namdari-NS-862 BASF-Maxx
Syngeta-1507 Mahyco- BASF-Singam Syngenta-Red Chief
Tejeswani
Assam Syngenta-Rocky Kalash-918 Advanta-Radhika Shibaji
Hard Rock Tejata Namdari-NS-862 Known you-Sarasati
Namdari-NS-501 BASF-US-803 BASF-Singam Sagar seeds-Sagar
king
Madhya Seminis-Abhilash Divyshakti- Advanta-Radhika BASF-Maxx Prashant
pradesh Divyshakti -51
Hyveg-Chirayu/ Advanta-AK-47 BASH-Singam Pahuja-Suman-235 Panchganga
Shivam
Namdari-NS-592 BASF-Armour Advanta-Venus Plus Syngenta-Augusta Seminis-
Gulmohar/Jindal
Chattisgarh Namdari-NS-592 Nandari-NS-1701 Advanta-Radhika Syngenta-Augusta Panchganga
Seminis-Abhilash VNR-305 Namdari-NS-862 Seminis-Sugar Pack East west-Prema
BASF-US-440 Hyveg-Eagle VNR-999 NSL-Sugar baby Ellora/ Jindal
Odisha Hyveg-SAKHAM VNR-305 Advanta-Radhika Syngenta-Augusta
BASF-LAXMI KRISHNA SIBANSU BASF-Maxx
BASF-US-440 East west-DAYA- Namdari-NS-862 Seminis-Sugar pack
619
Haryana Namdari-NS-5013 VNR-Unnati-60- Advanta-Navya Advance Seed Co- Prema
13 Kalia
Syngenta-Heem VNR-78 East west-Kirti Alibaba Nasik Red
Shikhar
BASF-US-2853 VNR-74 Sakata-Poorvi Master-37 Red Diamond
Punjab Namdari-NS-5013 VNR-Sahiba Syngenta-OH-2324 Honey Plus Black Onion
Namdari-NS-4266 United Genetics- Advanta-Navya Sugar-74 Taki-821
8307
East West-Rani Heer Namdari-NS-862 Advance Seed Co- XP Red
Kalia

21
 Himachal Namdari-NS-816
Pradesh BASF-US-2853
Lal Shona
Maharashtra clause-Rishika Seminis-Sitara Advanta-Radhika Kalash-Melody Panchganga
gold
Chia tai-Keshar Hyveg-Sonal BASF-Singham Sagar-Sagar king Yellor
Chia tai-Anisha Ankur-ARCH-930 Advanta-Lavanya BASF-Maxx Prashant
Rajastan Seminis-Abhilash VNR-Krishna Advanta-Radhika Kaliya Prema
Syngenta-1057 East West-Daiya Syngenta-OH-102 Sagar-Sagar king Ellora
Damini/Vansh-03 Meenam Namdari-NS-862 BASF-Maxx Matahari
Uttar Seminis-Abhilash VNR-305 Advanta-Radhika BASF-Maxx Divya
Pradesh Namdari-NS-592 Hyveg-78 Namdari-NS-862 Sagar-Sagar king Nasik red
Angle Hyveg-Eagle Advanta-Navya BASF-Astha Mata Hari
Gujarat Syngenta-1057 Hyveg-Saniya Advanta-Radhika Sagar seeds-Sagar East west-Prapti
King
Clause-Rishika Excell 502 NS-862 Pahuja-555 Amber seed-Phursungi
JK-811 VNR-305 BASF- Sartaj VNR-Honey Nasik red
Bihar NS-585,592 Nangubio-5424 Ns-862 Nunhems-Madubala, Jindal Seeds-Sukh sagar
Aastha
Sy-3038 Ankur-Sola, NS- UPL-Radhika Noble-Krishna , NS- Jindal seeds-Nasik-53
1101, Kalash-811 23
Seminis-Abhilas Seminis- Bio seeds-Abha Nunhems- Bangal-SukhSagar
Ganture, VNR- Maxx
305
Jharkhand Sy-1156 VNR-305 JK-7315 Nunhems-Aesa East-west-parema
Chiatai-Kundan, Rasi-Aastha, Agni Ns-862 Unicem-Kajal Seminis- Gulmohar
kunal
Pan seeds-1286 Rasi-Eagale, East Nunhems-Shakti SY-Redchif Bangal-SukhSagar
west-Daya

22
 5. State wise and Crop wise SRR and VRR vis–a-vis targeted SRR &
VRR

The two critical parameters for improvement of productivity in seeds of OPVs especially
applicable to food grains (cereals, millets and pulses) and oilseeds are (i) Seed Replacement
Rate (SRR) and (ii) Varietal Replacement Rate. Government of India and State Governments
are promoting improvement of both the parameters across all the States.

While SRR has significantly improved in the past one decade in many of the States, it is still
low compared to global standards where SRR is more than 90%-100%. In Cotton, the SRR is
more than 99% as the entire Cotton cultivated in India has been converted into Bt Cotton
hybrids. Similarly in hybrid seed crops such as Maize, Bajra, Castor and vegetable crops the
hybridization ranges from 70%-95% in different states. However in many OP crops in food
grains and oilseeds, the SRR is less than 25%-30% leading to low productivity5.

Similarly in many crops, old varieties released and commercialized in the past 3-5 decades in
both private and public sector are still under cultivation in many States of India and the
productivity of the most of these old varieties has reached a plateau or stagnated. There is a
strong need for Varietal Replacement with new varieties being developed by R&D in both
public and private sector, however due to various socio-economic factors the Varietal
Replacement Rate (VRR) of the highly adopted varieties is low in many States of the country.
Data on VRR is also not available in public domain. The state-wise and crop-wise data on
SRR for can be accessed from the following link https://seednet.gov.in/PDFFILES/SRR-13.pdf

5
https://cacp.dacnet.nic.in/ViewQuestionare.aspx?Input=2&DocId=1&PageId=39&KeyId=702

23
SRR can be enhanced by ensuring timely availability of quality seed to the farmers. The
availability of quality seeds at affordable cost breaks the farmer’s practice of saving seeds.
Regular use of FSS not only deteriorates genetic purity but also overall seed quality. As per
CACP data presented in the above table the requirement and availability of certified/quality
seed for Rice, Maize, Tur, Soybean and Cotton for the last five years, it can be noticed that in
recent years there has been sufficient availability of certified/quality seed. Rice, Maize, Tur
and Cotton seed availability has remained higher than requirement of certified/quality seed
for all the years, while for Soybean, requirement was higher than availability in 2015-16 and
2018-19 but in 2019-20, availability improved to outstrip the requirement6. By improving
SRR and VRR the productivity potential of various Plant varieties in different crops can be
realized successfully on par with global averages in line with improvement in irrigation
potential and improved agronomic practices to optimally utilize natural resources.

As per Seednet portal of Government of India, SRR projection for pulses with future projections is
given below.

6
https://cacp.dacnet.nic.in/ViewQuestionare.aspx?Input=2&DocId=1&PageId=39&KeyId=702

24
The State-wise aggregate SRR of various crops is presented in the table below. Each cell in
the table depicts two numbers, the first number shows SRR of OPVs and the second number
shows SRR of hybrid Plant varieties in major Agricultural States of India as per data
published by GoI.

25
 6. Demand and Supply Position of seeds of major crops and future
projections of seed requirement vis-a-vis projected crop
projections (2030)
The timely availability of quality seed of improved plant varieties on a periodical basis,
suitable for specific agro-climatic conditions is the key requirement for sustainable
agricultural growth. The genetic improvement of new varieties over the existing varieties in
line with customer and market requirements, changing climatic conditions and tolerance to
various biotic and abiotic stress conditions, reflect in the genetic gains developed through
conventional plant breeding supported by other R&D approaches including biotechnologies.

The demand and supply of quality seeds of major crops including future projections is given
below.

1) Cotton: Cotton is grown in an area of nearly 12 million ha in India. At average 1.75

packets per acre nearly 5.25 Crore packets of Bt Cotton hybrid seed is required in
India. The Indian seed industry has enough capacities to supply 5.25 Cr to 7.0 cr pkts
per year. However in future if the agronomy shifts towards mechanization at high
density planting for improvement of productivity, the requirement of Bt Cotton
seeds may triple or quadruple, but the area under Cotton may also come down to
60% to75% of the current area with a net demand of 20 Crore pkts of Bt Cotton
varieties and hybrids.
2) Hybrid Rice: In the past few years hybrid paddy has grown from nearly 5%-6% of
total Rice cultivated area to nearly 8% to 9% of total area under Rice in India. The
market size at a seed rate of 6 kg/acre rose from nearly 45000 tons to 75000 tons
currently. With launch of new hybrids with excellent quality grain and cooking
suiting Indian cultural requirements, in future the hybrid Rice is set to grow at least
20% of the Rice cultivated area amounting to 1.3 lakh tons.
3) Varietal Rice/paddy: If 9% of area is considered under Hybrid paddy, nearly varietal
paddy is grown in 39-40 million ha. At 50% SRR, nearly 10 lakh tons of Varietal Rice
seed is required in India at an average seed rate of 20 kg/acre. Further there is an
urgent need for varietal replacement to break the productivity barrier. Mega
varieties such as BPT 5204, MTU 7029,MTU 1010, MTU 1001, IR-8, IR-64,etc. need to
be replaced with better varieties which are suitable for specific agroclimatic

26
 requirements and market requirements in addition to tolerance to biotic and abotic
stresses and climate resilience. Significant investments in R&D are essential,
especially in domestic companies which deal with Varietal Rice.
4) Maize: In India Maize is grown in 8mha-10 mha of area. However still 20%-25% area
is yet to come under hybrids completely, as low value seed including fodder Maize is
grown in such area. The conversion of Indian Maize area into Hybrids will certainly
boost the productivity. Presently at 8kg per acre seed rate, the Indian Maize market
is estimated at 125000 tons at a hybridization of 70%. However in the next 5-7 years
if atleast 90% of the area is converted to hybrid Maize, then the market size can go
upto 180000 tons.
5) Wheat: Wheat is cultivated in 32 million ha of area. At seed rate of 40 kg per acre,
the seed requirement in wheat is 32 lakh tonnes. At 50% SRR, the seed requirement
is 16 lakh tonnes. Local capacities of seed companies including involvement of FPOs
is essential for meeting demand of quality wheat seed.
6) Soybean: An important oilseed crop, soybean is cultivated in 10mha to 11mha in
India. At 30kg per acre seed rate the present requirement of Soybean is 7.5 lakh
tons. At 70% of SRR, the requirements of quality seed is 5 lakh tons. India needs to
develop decentralized supply chain and local capabilities for supply of improved seed
in future. The current and future projections of seed demand in important crops is
given below.

SNo Crop Avg Seed Present Present Seed Future Future Seed
rate kg per area in demand in area in seed rate demand
acre/04.75 million MTs/Cr pkts in million kg/acre & in MTs@
kg pkt in acres cotton @ 50% Acres 0.475 kg 75% SRR
Cotton SRR for OPV pkts/acre in OPV
crops for cotton
1 Rice- 20 100.0 10 lakh tons 90.0 15.0 11 lakh
varietal tons
2 Rice- 6 7.5 45000 15.0 6 90000
Hybrid tons
3 Wheat 40 75.0 15 lakh tons 75.0 40 20 lakh

27
 tons
4 Maize@ 8 22.50 1.26 lakh tons 22.50 8 1.8 lakh
70% tons
hybrids
5 Bajra @ 1.5 17.5 21000 tons 18.0 1.5 25000
80% tons
hybrids
6 Cotton 1.75 30.0 5.25 Cr pkts 20.0 5.0 10.0 Cr
pkts
7 Soybean 30 28.0 4.2 lakh tons 30.0 30 6 lakh
tons
8 Redgram 5.0 11.0 27500 tons 12.0 5.0 40000
tons
9 Groundnut 40.0 12.0 2.4 lakh tons 12.0 40.0 3 lakh
tons
10 Chickpea 25.0 23.0 3.13 lakh tons 25.0 25.0 4lakh
tons
The future seed requirements in various crops is dependent on the following.

1) Change in agronomy including mechanization in several crops leading to

optimization of plant population and seed rate per acre.
2) R&D investments for development of improved Plant varieties in all crops including
use of biotechnologies for development of transgenic traits, gene edited traits,etc.
3) Development of decentralized supply chains for timely supply of seeds without
deterioration of quality.
4) Development of local level cold storage and conditioned warehouses and local level
processing infrastructure in support of domestic seed companies
5) PPVFR act based IPR regime aligned to the seed quality regulations and plant variety
evaluation/ VCU testing for timely release and commercialization of new Plant
varieties.

6) Development of capabilities for supply chain traceability utilizing digital

technologies, block chain and ICTs.

28
 7. Current Seed Processing Infrastructure - Areas of upgradation
(Machinery requirements and its indicative cost).
The raw seed from the production fields is sent to seed processing plants. At seed processing plants
the seed is received and is subject to the processing including seed treatment with requisite
chemicals. The basic process flow of a seed processing plant for paddy and wheat is shown below.

The sequence of processing machinery units in a seed processing plant are shown below. The seed
treatment components are not shown below.

29
Typically the seed processing plant consists of the following machinery, 1) Pre-cleaner to separate
larger impurities and 2) cleaners which can be further classified as a) Graders , b) Gravity separators
and 3) indented cylinders for length grading, to separate smaller impurities to arrive at uniform
quality seed. After cleaning, the seed is treated with seed treatment chemicals, mostly fungicides or
sometimes insecticides for providing protection against seed borne pests and diseases.

The processing plant design and layout is dependent on the crop species. While for majority of
cereals and pulses the above basic process is sufficient, for crops like Cotton, Maize and certain high
value vegetable crops, the process flow has additional components. For example in Cotton the
delinting setup is present before the cleaning process. Similarly in Maize, shelling of Maize cobs need
to be done before initiation of seed processing. The specialized components have additional cost
implications.

Costs of basic seed machinery used for Wheat and Rice

Cost in Rs. Capacity of Machinery ( Eg:Wheat crop)

Name of Machinery 4 TPH 10 TPH 20 TPH

Main V B Elevator 1 150,000 250,000 425,000

Dump Hopper with Vibrator 75,000 125,000 225,000

Pre-cleaner 550,000 650,000 850,000

Pre-cleaner Screens 125,000 150,000 175,000

V B Elevator 2 150,000 250,000 425,000

Fine Cleaner 675,000 850,000 1,050,000

Screens for Fine cleaner 125,000 150,000 175,000

V B Elevator 3 150,000 250,000 425,000

Main Gravity 375,000 500,000 750,000

Gravity deck and Hopper 125,000 175,000 250,000

V B Elevator 4 150,000 250,000 425,000

Return Seed Gravity 300,000 375,000 500,000

V B Elevator 5 150,000 250,000 425,000

De-stoner 325,000 450,000 550,000

V B Elevator 6 150,000 250,000 425,000

Seed treator 450,000 625,000 875,000

30
V B Elevator 7 150,000 250,000 425,000

Packing Bin 200,000 325,000 450,000

Packing Machine 2,100,000 2,100,000 4,200,000

Remnant Conveyors & Bin 350,000 475,000 650,000

Cyclo fans 350,000 475,000 650,000

Printer machine with bar code 350,000 350,000 700,000

Compressors 475,000 550,000 1,250,000

Stitching machines 150,000 225,000 450,000

Weighing machines 250,000 250,000 250,000

Seed storage Pallets 500,000 500,000 1,250,000

Hand pallets fork lift 100,000 150,000 250,000

Total Cost 8,400,000 9,175,000 16,725,000

Some of the modern automation systems with indicative costs are shown below as a reference.

Sr Name of Machinery 4 TPH 10 TPH 20 TPH

No
1 Fork Lifts for Internal handling 750,000 750,000 1,500,000
2 SCADA system for energy saving 1,200,000 1,200,000 2,000,000
with sensors
3 Seed Dryers 3,500,000 3,500,000 7,500,000
4 Seed conveying system 1,500,000 1,500,000 2,500,000
5 Packing Automation 2,500,000 2,500,000 5,000,000
a Pick and fill machine
b Primary Pouch Take up Conveyor
c Check Weigher
d Pouch counting
e Secondary bag filling
f Auto stitchery
g Primary Bar code Scanner
h Secondary bag Weighment
i Secondary bag bar coder
j Color sorter
6 Truck Loader 350,000 450,000 700,000
7 Camera for surveillance 500,000 1,200,000 2,500,000
Total Cost 10,300,000 11,100,000 21,700,000
Cold storage set up for maintenance of RH/Temperature balance including automated
controls

31
 8. Existing credit arrangements for seed industry - quantum of
credit disbursed to seed processing industries

As per RBI norms agricultural credit was categorized under two broad heads, viz., Direct and
Indirect7. The production and processing of hybrid seed crops also was considered as direct
agriculture credit by RBI. However providing working capital facility for seed production and
processing as a separate credit requirement at concessionary rates which is delinked from
commercial credit will give a fillip to the seed industry not only in terms of strengthening
quality throughout the supply chain, but also making seed industry globally competitive. The
present credit arrangements to seed industry are provided both for loans for Capital
expenditure and also working capital for all the functions viz., R&D, Production, Processing,
distribution and marketing as commercial loans. NABARD also provides long term loans for
investment credit for seed production and seed industry.
The Government of India under various initiatives have provided the following credit
support subsidies as a part over a period of time8 to strengthen the seed industry9.
1) Credit for schemes for certified seed distribution
2) ISOPOM-Subsidies for purchase of breeder seeds
3) Subsidies for purchase of breeder seeds and foundation seeds under technology
mission for Cotton and Technology mission for oilseeds
4) Subsidy for hybrid Rice seed production, full subsidy for minikits, under NFSM
5) Subsidies under seed village program
6) Transport subsidies for seeds
7) Subsidies and credit support for hybrid seed production
8) Support to seed infrastructure under Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.
9) Credit linked back-ended capital subsidy at the rate of 25% of the project cost
subject to a maximum limit of Rs.25.00 lakh per unit on seed infrastructure
development.
However there is a need for focus to particularly develop domestic seed industry
through strong credit arrangements to make it globally competitive. Typically what
differentiates the domestic company and an MNC operating in 25 or more countries is
the germplasm base, global R&D investments, standardized production, processing and
quality assurance infrastructure, human resources, warehousing and logistics and

7
Report of the Internal Working Group to Review Agricultural Credit,2019
https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/PublicationReportDetails.aspx?UrlPage=&ID=942

8
https://seednet.gov.in/material/prog-
schemes.htm#(i)%20Assistance%20for%20Boosting%20Seed%20Production%20in%20the%20Private%20Secto
r:

9
https://seednet.gov.in/PDFFILES/Guidelines%20on%20Boosting%20Seed%20Production%20in%20Private%20
Sector.pdf

32
distribution system. For improving the standards of domestic companies and also small
enterprises in unorganized sector, there is a strong need for investment in various
differentiators mentioned above. Therefore NABARD as the apex bank for rural
development need to consider Seed industry as a top-priority sector to transform the
entire agriculture industry in India.

33
 9. Issues related to the credit flow to the seed production and
processing - both Organised and Unorganised sectors

Seed is unique among agricultural inputs. Unlike other inputs such seed is not manufactured
in an industrial plant, but is a product of agriculture, grown out of natural biological
processes in a standard environment to ensure quality and purity. Being a product of
agriculture, seed production faces all the vagaries and uncertainties of climate and the
reliability of supply of quality seed is dependent on multiple variables. Further production
planning for seeds is done atleast 1-2 years prior to the sale of seeds, as seeds need to be
produced atleast one year or one season prior to the sales process. This makes demand
estimation for a particular variety of seed very difficult with respect to the accuracy of
estimation of quantity of production.

Further due to vagaries of monsoon and climate change, the estimated yield of seed
production crop also varies leading to lower output and revenues. As seed production is
different from agriculture crop production in terms of yield/seed output and also
monitoring and compliance to standard operating processes for hybrid seeds or OPV seeds,
there is a further need to consider it as a specialized form agriculture process with higher
risks and uncertainty. Therefore there is a need for a policy reform for consideration of
Working capital loan requirements for seed industry especially for production and
processing. All loans for seed industry and also insurance should be considered as part of
priority sector lending, to cover the risks of seed industry for both organized and
unorganized sector.

Further seeds which encapsulate plant varieties, which are products of R&D should be given
a special status in terms of insurance protection of seed farmers and companies against any
unforeseen losses. Also Government should establish seed traceability systems to enable
tracing of seed to its production plot in case of any deviation to the quality standards.

34
 10. Scope for FPOs in seed production

The policies and action plans for promoting Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) were
started by Government of India in 2012-13, with an aim to empower farmers to enable
them harness the power of collectivization and thereby develop profitable agribusiness
enterprises at grass root level. While FPOs work on economies of scale and scope both for
input procurement and sales of output, seed production has also become an important
competency that some of the FPOs have developed over time10.

The FPOs have been developed by NABARD, SFAC, Central and State Governments and
various other institutions in the past 8 years and Government of India plans to develop
10000 FPOs in the next 3-4 years from the current 4000 FPOs. Presently FPOs have
developed competencies for production of OPV seeds such as Spices, Soybean, Wheat, Rice,
Pulses, Oilseeds, OPV vegetable seeds, nurseries of fruit crop and plantation crops, etc.

Given below are an indicative list of FPOs involved in Seed production.

SNo FPO State Crops

1 Kirtinagar Valley Association Uttarakhand Organic spice seeds
2 Bijawar FPC MP Cereals,Pulses
3 Karnvati FPC MP Cereals,Pulses
4 DharmarajuPalli Society Telangana Cereals
5 Yeotmal FPO Maharastra Tur,Soybean
6 MadhyaBharatFPO MP Soybean,Wheat
7 Satwaji Baba FPO Maharashtra Potato
8 Rishiwat FPC Maharashtra Turmeric,Soybean
9 Krishijeewan Agro Maharashtra Onion
10 Avirat Seed foundation Gujarat Cotton,Castor,Cumin, Groundnut
11 Kalmeshwara FPO, Dharwad Karnataka Pulses
12 MVK-FPOs AP Groundnut
13 Rowmari FPO Assam Mustard

10
FPOs in Seed production http://sfacindia.com/PDFs/Krishi-Sutra(Version2).pdf

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Government of India has released operational guidelines for promotion of FPOs in 2020 in
which seed production has been considered among the higher revenue generating activities
for FPOs11. The scheme envisages the following objectives.

1) To provide holistic and broad based supportive ecosystem to form new 10,000 FPOs
to facilitate development of vibrant and sustainable income oriented farming and for
overall socio-economic development and wellbeing of agrarian communities.
2) To enhance productivity through efficient, cost-effective and sustainable resource
use and realize higher returns through better liquidity and market linkages for their
produce and become sustainable through collective action.
3) To provide handholding and support to new FPOs up to 5 years from the year of
creation in all aspects of management of FPO, inputs, production, processing and
value addition, market linkages, credit linkages and use of technology etc.
4) To provide effective capacity building to FPOs to develop agriculture
entrepreneurship skills to become economically viable and self-sustaining beyond
the period of support from government.

The scope for FPOs as Seed production partners of seed companies is very promising. Both
public and private sector can engage FPOs in foundation seed production, seed production
of both hybrids and OPVs and developing nurseries for planting material. The FPO
partnership shall also enable building decentralized supply chains in seed industry.

In the coming future, more and more seed companies shall engage in seed production with
FPOs given the advantages of collectivization for ensuring a reliable supply of quality seeds.
The seed industry is among the few in agriculture sector which has already standardized
Contract farming type of arrangements with respect to seed production and partnership
with FPOs with right skill development and capacity building will become a natural
progression in Indian seed sector. NSAI, as the apex industrial association of Indian seed
industry shall promote FPOs and also work with them as partners in the vision to achieve
AtmaNirbhar Bharat.

11
http://agricoop.nic.in/sites/default/files/English%20FPO%20Scheme%20Guidelines%20FINAL_0.pdf

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