Rains expose seed shortage

Though higher than the corresponding period last year — less crops were sown in May 2003 since the monsoon arrived late — it does not reflect the on-time arrival of the rains or the early beginning of the kharif season.

While urging state governments to deal with the situation, the Union agriculture ministry noted some states were selling potato breeder seeds procured from the Central Potato Research Institute directly to farmers without going into the various stages of foundation and certified seeds. As a result, large quantities of breeders’ seeds are being directly used in commercial cultivation.

Indicating a possible seeds shortage, an internal government report says: ‘‘It is apprehended there could be a shortage of groundnut, sesamun, sunflower, and pulses-lentil seeds for summer 2004 and kharif 2004 due to lack of sowing in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu on account of deficient rains. Therefore, all state governments need to initiate action well in advance to produce/procure adequate quantity of seeds required for summer 2004 and kharif 2004.’’

In 2003, though the average rainfall over the country was 102 per cent of the normal range, there was pockets of drought in major oilseeds producing states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Some places faced recurring droughts.

Deficient in production of oilseeds and pulses, India has to depend on imports of vegetable oils and pulses. The import outlay for vegetable oils increased to $1806.97 million in fiscal 2002-03 from $1355.57 million in 2001-02.

The rising trend looks set to continue, with the first nine months of the fiscal 2003-04 showing imports growing to $1932.16 million. The imports of pulses, though, declined marginally: from $529.53 million in 2002-03 to $391.08 million in the first nine months of 2003-04.

Though the output of oilseeds and pulses is rising marginally, it is not commensurate with the rising demand. Oilseeds output fell to 15.058 million tonne (MT) in 2002-03 from 20.80 MT in 2001-02 on account of the severe drought in 2003. After good rains, the oilseeds output increased to 24.975 MT in 2003-04.