Plan afoot to grow paddy seeds on 8,306 hectares of land in Assam

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam is basically an agrarian state, yet quality seeds continue to be a scarce here. The state government imports quality seeds from the rest of India. To put an end to this problem, the State Agriculture Department is contemplating producing quality seeds, especially paddy, on 8,306 hectares of land.

Speaking to The Sentinel, Assam Seed and Organic Certification Agency (ASOCA) Director Mowsam Hazarika said, "The ASOCA has registered 8306.1 ha of area in the state for both foundation seed and certified seed production of Sali Paddy (winter paddy) under under SATHI Portal for the years 2023-24. ASOCA launched the portal. This is the highest area registered for foundation and certified seed production since the inception of ASOCA. Apart from Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Assam Seeds Corporation Limited (ASCL), 33 farmer-producer companies (FPCs), several private farms, and individual growers participated in this seed-producing programme. While AAU registered 133.38 hectares, FPCs registered 1335.14 hectares, Assam Seed Corporation Ltd. Forum 224.5 hectares, individual grocers 400.91 hectares, and private farms 6,212.17 hectares."

The ASOCA introduced seed certification under the SATHI portal in Assam for the first time on July 4, 2023. The SATHI (Seed Traceability, Authentication, and Holistic Inventory) Portal is a centralized online system for seed traceability, authentication, and inventory designed to deal with the challenges of seed production, quality seed identification, and seed certification. Seed certification for other crops like mustard, green gram, black gram etc., will start in the next Rabi season, he said.

Hazarika further said, "Quality seeds play an important role in increasing crop production. Therefore, the State Agriculture Department has started the production of such quality seeds, mainly in the field of paddy. They will produce foundation seeds on 606.83 hectares and certified seeds on 7699.27 hectares. The paddy varieties selected for production are Keteky Jaha, Numali, Ranjit, Ranjit Sub-1, Kanaklata, Dichang, Swarna Sub-1, etc."

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