BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC) is in spot following a recent order from the directorate of Horticulture to debar the National Horticulture Research Development and Foundation (NHRDF) from future tender process for supply of certified seeds to farmers.
The directive came at a time when NHRDF, a registered society of National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), has emerged as a lowest bidder (L1) in the bidding held in August for supply of 207 quintals of onion seeds for the kharif seasons.
Sources in the directorate said that the decision not to allow NHRDF to supply certified seeds for the simple reason that the organisation which has a regional research station over an area of 51.92 acre of land provided by the state government at Palijhar near Boudh has not been able to produce seeds even after 10 years of its existence in the state.
“The research organisation has been supplying certified seeds procured from its seed processing units located in other states or from other national agencies despite the fact that the state government has provided 52 acres of land free of cost and nearly Rs 10 crore for infrastructure development of the research station,” the sources added.
The basic objective of this All India Network Research Project (AINRP) on onion and garlic set up in 2015-16 was to produce quality planting material and seeds of improved varieties of onion, garlic, potato, okra and other vegetables for distribution to the farmers.
The other objectives were to develop new technology and standardisation of package of practices to improve the yield and quality of vegetable crops having export potential for commercial production in Odisha. However, the research station has miserably failed to achieve these objectives, the sources said. Explaining the constraints faced by the research foundation in developing quality onion and garlic seeds, NHRDF in-chare of Boudh station AK Pandey told The New Indian Express that the soil quality of the land provided by the state government needed further improvement.
“As we have not been able to match the seed quality to the desired level despite undertaking rotational crops to improve the soil quality, NHRDF has been supplying onion and garlic seeds from other regional centres located in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat at the most competitive rate to the farmers of the Odisha,” Pandey said.
He, however, said that they have not received any official communication from the state government debarring NHRDF from articipating in future tender process.