Minister for Agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy has said there is a need for intensified research on developing seed to meet the growing needs of food production and productivity with nutritious values in the backdrop of growing ecological imbalances.
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Addressing virtually a meet on development of crops through biotechnology organised by National Seed Association of India here on Friday he said there was no alternative to mother and food and the food has be produced from cultivating mother earth. He said agriculture was the backbone of the Indian economy and it had made great strides from depending on other countries for its food needs at the time of Independence.
The country had achieved enviable progress and achieved self reliance in the production of fruits, flowers, dairy products and fish apart from food crops but there was need to achieve more considering the growing needs and diminishing land resources on one hand and growing ecological imbalances on the other, the minister said adding that quality seed would play a key role in the development of agriculture sector.
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The Minister said India seed industry was in the fifth position in the world now but it had all qualities and resources to become number one. In the 1970s and 1980s the seed industry was completely in the public sector but later it had developed in the private sector with the encouragement from the government.
It had achieved remarkable progress in producing hybrid seed of several food and commercial crops but it was required to grow further in tune with the growing food needs of the population. Telangana was most suitable not only in the country but also in the world for quality seed production, processing and storage and at present the State was meeting about 50% of the country’s all seed needs.
President of NSAI M. Prabhakar Rao and others participated in the meet.