CAG sues Odisha government for poor seed replacement rate – The New Indian Express | Tech Reddy

By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The State is far behind the national average in seed replacement rate (SRR) as the Odisha government has failed to formulate a comprehensive seed policy. research and development, production, distribution and marketing of seeds.

In the absence of any policy, seed production and distribution activities have been carried out based on executive instructions and guidelines issued from time to time in an adhoc manner. Although the draft agricultural policy proposed to enhance the seed replacement rate to 33 percent (pc) , the SRR in case of four major seeds such as paddy, groundnut, moong and biri (black gram) was below the normative level (33 pc) and also the national average during 2013-18 except in case of paddy during 2015-16. .

In 2017-18, the SRR for paddy was 21.54 pc, 6.21 pc for groundnut, 12.18 pc for moong and 6.22 pc for black gram. However, the national averages for the four seeds were above the ideal rate of 33 pc. Pulling up the Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC) for the decrease in the SRR, the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) in its performance audit report for the year. end of March 2018 said that the corporation carried out seed production in terms of its annual action plan without considering the Seed Rolling Plan (SRP).

The Ministry of Agriculture had approved an SRP for Odisha for the period 2013-17. The SRP must be prepared considering the minimum SRR or rate already obtained whichever is higher. Although the government ordered all seed production agencies, including the OSSC, to produce according to the SRP, the corporation published its production schedule according to the annual plan which was lower than that which was planned in the SRP during 2013-14 and 2016-18 and failed to achieve its own target, the report said.

The lack of production and distribution of OSSC certified seeds has affected the State’s SRR. In case of paddy, though the SRR increased to 36.01 pc in 2015-16, it again decreased below the normative level during 2016-18. The state corporation produced 20.35 lakh quintals of seeds during 2013-18 against its own target of 35.80 lakh, the report added.

</p> <p>BHUBANESWAR: The State is far behind the national average in seed replacement rate (SRR) as the Odisha government has failed to formulate a comprehensive seed policy. research and development, production, distribution and marketing of seeds. In the absence of any policy, seed production and distribution activities have been carried out based on executive instructions and guidelines issued from time to time in an adhoc manner. Although the draft agricultural policy proposed to enhance the seed replacement rate to 33 percent (pc) , the SRR in case of four major seeds such as paddy, groundnut, moong and biri (black gram) was below the normative level (33 pc) and also the national average during 2013-18 except in case of paddy during 2015-16. . In 2017-18, the SRR for paddy was 21.54 pc, 6.21 pc for groundnut, 12.18 pc for moong and 6.22 pc for black gram. However, the national averages for the four seeds were above the ideal rate of 33 pc. Pulling up the Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC) for the decrease in the SRR, the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) in its performance audit report for the year. end of March 2018 said that the corporation carried out seed production in terms of its annual action plan without considering the Seed Rolling Plan (SRP). The Ministry of Agriculture had approved an SRP for Odisha for the period 2013-17. The SRP must be prepared considering the minimum SRR or rate already obtained whichever is higher. Although the government ordered all seed production agencies, including the OSSC, to produce according to the SRP, the corporation published its production schedule according to the annual plan which was lower than that which was planned in the SRP during 2013-14 and 2016-18 and failed to achieve its own target, the report said. The lack of production and distribution of OSSC certified seeds has affected the State’s SRR. In case of paddy, though the SRR increased to 36.01 pc in 2015-16, it again decreased below the normative level during 2016-18. The state corporation produced 20.35 lakh quintals of seeds during 2013-18 against its own target of 35.80 lakh, the report added.</p> <p>