Misbranded and counterfeit rice seeds: Panel directs FSC&RD to take action

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body, on Thursday, directed the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) to take action against the seed dealers and companies involved in selling misbranded and counterfeit rice seeds.

The FSC&RD was recommended by the Sub-Committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, which met with MNA Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan in the chair to bind the seed distribution companies to deliver production technology details in the form of pamphlets along with seed bags to guide the farmers.

The parliament body also asked FSC&RD to bind companies to mention the time of sowing or the appropriate time of sowing and other relevant information to bring awareness in farmers.

The committee also decided that the representatives of the Ministry of Climate Change will be invited during the next meeting.

The FSC&R also submitted a report of the inquiry committee constituted to probe the issues about the low yield of rice in the ongoing year. The members of the committee have visited rice-producing areas of Punjab such as Gujranwala, Sahiwal, and Khanewal. The technical committee were of the view that the decline in yield was due to early sowing and high temperature at the time of pollen shedding and pollination, the report said.

It said that high temperatures above 35/25°C adversely affect panicle extrusion, flowering period and number of spikelet’s anthesis. The recommended time for rice nursery sowing is after May 20 and transplantation end of June, it said, adding that in recent years, farmers were practising growing rice during March/April to get two rice crops in a year.

The report says that the cultivation of rice in March/April exposed to a high risk of heat stress during reproductive/ripening phases. Prolong heat wave in the country during the current year has resulted in sterility leading to poor grain formation or complete failure of early won rice crop, it says.

The inquiry in its report says that action shall be taken under the provision of the Seed Act, 1976, amended in 2015 against seed companies involved in misbranding of enlisted varieties.

The committee recommended that there should be a complete ban on the early sowing of paddy nurseries which may be started from the recommended date of May 20 or as per the recommendation of the provincial agriculture department. Strict action should be taken against the seed dealers and seed companies involved in selling misbranded and counterfeit seed, the committee recommended.

The committee further recommended that agriculture research and the private sector should focus on the development of heat-resistant varieties. Variety evaluation committee should make a mandatory requirement and arrangements for testing varieties against heat stress during trial.

MNA Kesoo Mal Kheal Das, Zulfiqar Ali Behan, officials of Ministry of National Food Security and Research, farmers, and representatives of seed companies attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024