What is Seed Village (Beej Gram)?
A village, wherein trained group of farmers are involved in production of seeds of various crops and cater to the needs of themselves, fellow farmers of the village and farmers of neighbouring villages in appropriate time and at affordable cost is called “a seed village”.
What is Seed Village Programme (Beej Gram Yojana)?
Govt. of India is implementing Seed Village Programme (Beej Gram Yojana) since 2014-15 to upgrade the quality of farmer’s saved seeds. Under this programme financial assistance for distribution of foundation/ certified seeds at 50% of seed cost for cereal crops and 60% for pulses, oilseeds, fodder and green manure crops is available for up to one acre per farmer.
Background
Seed is the starting point of agriculture and dictates ultimate productivity of other inputs. Good quality seed alone increases the yield by 15-20 per cent.
To meet the potential challenge of catering to the food need of 1.4 billion people of our country by 2025, a quantum increase in agricultural productivity is very much essential and hence production and distribution of high quality seeds of improved varieties/ hybrids to the farming community is becoming increasingly important.
Quality seed is the key input for realizing potential productivity. As the quality deteriorates during subsequent generations the old seed must be replaced with fresh lots of quality seeds.
Ideally seed should be replaced every year for hybrids and every three to four years for non-hybrids. Therefore it is necessary to improve the availability of quality seeds to raise the Seed Replacement Rate (SRR).
The non-availability of quality seeds in oilseeds and pulses is one of the main reasons for its lower seed replacement rate. The immediate increase in the productivity and production of these corps can be achieved by a higher distribution of quality seeds of new and high yielding varieties.
In this context, the concept of seed village which advocates village self-sufficiency in production and distribution of quality seeds is getting momentum.
Concept
1 . Organizing seed production in cluster (or) compact area.
2 . Replacing existing local varieties with new high yielding varieties.
3 . Increasing the seed production.
4 . To meet the local demand, timely supply and reasonable cost.
5 . Self sufficiency and self reliance of the village.
6 . Increasing the seed replacement rate.
Features
1 . Seed is available at the door steps of farmers at appropriate time.
2 . Seed availability at affordable cost even lesser than market price.
3 . Increased confidence among the farmers about the quality because of known source of production.
4 . Producer and consumer are mutually benefited.
5 . Facilitates fast spread of new cultivars of different kinds.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
QUES . Which one of the following best describes the main objective of ‘Seed Village Concept’? UPSC 2015
(a) Encouraging the farmers to use their own farm seeds and discouraging them to buy the seeds from others.
(b) Involving the farmers for training in quality seed production and thereby to make available quality seeds to others at appropriate time and affordable cost.
(c) Earmarking some villages exclusively for the production of certified seeds.
(d) Identifying the entrepreneurs in village and providing them technology and finance to set up seed companies.
(b)
