Good quality seeds can boost agricultural production by 15-20%: IISS

Good quality seeds can increase the country's overall agricultural production by 15-20 per cent, which is crucial to meet the future demand of foodgrains, Sanjay Kumar, Director of Indian Institute of Seed Science, said on Wednesday.

Extensive work in the field of creating good quality seed varieties is currently being carried out in India, a Gujarat government release quoted Kumar as saying while addressing the ongoing National Summit on Agro and Food Processing at Anand Agriculture University.

The three-day Agro and Food Processing Summit, inaugurated on Tuesday, is being organised as a pre-event to the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit to be held in January next year.

In his address, Kumar stressed that farmers will need good quality seed varieties to meet India's future foodgrain demand, according to the release.

"The Centre is taking several steps to ensure that farmers get good quality seeds. Seed Corporations are currently functioning in 17 states, while nearly 50 large and 500 small and medium companies are also engaged in the development of new varieties of seeds.

The world needs to produce seeds as per market demand and by keeping in mind the effects of climate change," Kumar said.

The central government is taking steps to train women, tribal and young farmers to help them in getting more profit from farming, he added.