HYDERABAD: Even as the Telangana government has proudly declared that the State is emerging as India’s seed bowl, the Ministry of Agriculture’s premier institute National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC), Varanasi has not recognised it as such.
Responding to an RTI application by activist Sudheer Jalagam, the NSRTC said it did not recognise any State in the country as a seed bowl. In fact, the NSRTC also told Sudheer that it has not preserved any seeds of Telangana with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Germany.
In fact, it has not done any research on Telangana seeds for the last 10 years, stated the institute. The NSRTC has no agreements either with the State government or with the Agriculture University on seed research. However, the NSRTC said it had trained 87 scientists from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the last six years.
Following this disappointing response from the NSRTC, Sudheer Jalagam wrote a letter on Tuesday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a request to set up two new regional seed research and training centres in the State.
‘60% of seeds from TS’
“Telangana has contributed to over 60 per cent of the national requirement of seeds every year. As against the total seed requirement of 35 lakh tonnes annually, Telangana contributes over 60 per cent, about 22 lakh to 24 lakh tonne, of seeds to meet the national requirements. Over 400 companies have set up warehouses to store the seeds produced here in Telangana. Unfortunately we do not have proper National Seed Development, Research and Training Centres in Telangana Region.
Karimnagar, Kodad best for centres: Activist
As per the NSRTC, there is no specific research on Telangana seeds. Hence we request you to establish two new Regional Seed Research and Training Centres in Karimnagar and Kodad regions. This will encourage farmers, scientists and preserve unique seeds for future generations,” Sudheer said.