Production of quality seeds stressed

Kathmandu, November 8: A regional meeting has started here to exchange knowledge and experience on quality, nutritious food, and seed production. The two-day meeting is organized for the first time in Nepal under the coordination of Nepal Agriculture Cooperatives Central Association Limited. Participants from the Netherlands, India, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal are attending the meeting.

The meeting will discuss working papers on the topic of sustainable development in varied sectors of seed production without harming the environment. The working papers will be presented by the participating countries. The meeting will, besides determining the future strategy in the seed sector, also discuss the status of seed industries and enhancement of the capacity of seed-producing farmers.

Inaugurating the meeting on Thursday (Nov 7), Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Yubak Dhwaj GC informed that the Ministry has formulated and implemented the policy to end hunger and strengthen food security in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. “The government is conscious to prevent the indigenous variety seeds from becoming extinct and the rampant use of imported seeds. Collective efforts should be made for increasing the access of farmers to the standard seeds,” he said.

President of the Limited, Khem Bahadur Pathak said the farmers were facing various problems for lack of good quality seeds and stressed on scaling up government investment in the production of standard seeds. Experts from the Netherlands on the occasion suggested increasing investment in the production of high-quality seeds for boosting agriculture production.