Seed Industry

India's private seed companies are holding 20-30 per cent surplus stock for the kharif season, but ensuring timely distribution to critical rain-deficient geographies remains the key challenge as El Nino threatens to deliver a weak and delayed monsoon this year, industry body FSII has said. Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) Chairman Ajai Rana said while the sector was well-prepared following a bumper seed production season for corn, rice, and millets, a recent survey of 1,000 farmers showed 75 per cent had already purchased seed while the remaining 25 per cent were waiting for the monsoon underscoring the urgency of moving stocks from surplus areas to vulnerable districts before the planting window closed. "We typically plan with 15-20 per cent buffer for returns. This year's strong seed production has further strengthened our position. Many companies are having 20-30 per cent surplus stock," Rana told PTI in an interview. In scenarios where farmers may need to replant d

The Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) on Saturday welcomed the GST Council's decision to slash rates on key agricultural inputs while urging similar relief for the seed sector. The move to cut GST on fertiliser raw materials, bio-pesticides, micronutrients and farm machinery will substantially lower input costs and create economic momentum, the industry body said. "This is a transformative step for Indian agriculture. The government has directly empowered farmers and strengthened the rural economy," said Ajai Rana, FSII Chairman and CEO of Savannah Seeds. However, FSII flagged that similar reforms are overdue for the seed sector. Currently, GST exemption on seeds denies the industry input tax credit (ITC) benefits on most inputs and services. Items like packaging, logistics, warehousing and chemical treatments attract standard GST rates, creating a higher tax burden on seeds versus other agri inputs with concessional rates. The body urged the government to either fully .

FSII has also filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the state's decision. The hearing is scheduled for later this month

In the case of HT rice, the technology that the JV will commercialize is called 'FullPage' which is a new generation double stack mutant herbicide-tolerant rice technology

But, critics say the approach in forming should have been bottoms-up instead of top-down

The government's plan to develop a stack of technologies for agriculture will be based on old and inaccurate land records, excluding many who need to access agricultural services and welfare schemes

The Bill exempts farmers from registering the seeds they develop if they do not sell them

This will be part of the $26 million the company plans to use to expand its cotton business in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and its rice and eggplant business in Asia

After clocking single-digit production growth in 2015, the Rs 20,000-crore Indian seed industry is pinning its hopes on good monsoon to achieve double-digit growth.The industry grew at 12 per cent in 2012 and 2013, before slowing down a bit. It now hopes to achieve 12 per cent growth again in 2016, thanks to Met forecast of above-normal monsoon.Te demand for cotton seeds is expected to decline a bit as farmers are likely to switch to other crops after bad experience with BT cotton last year. Paddy farmers have already started purchasing seeds and the industry expects demand for oil seeds and seeds for other kharif crops to go up by June-end."Since last two years, growth of seeds industry was limited to single-digit. But this year we expect the industry to be back on track. If everything goes well, the market could increase to over Rs 20,000 crore," said M G Shembekar, managing director, Ankur Seeds.According to Shembekar, weak economical situation, coupled with poor monsoon had resulte