Pune: Maharashtra may be one of India’s biggest soybean-producing states, but its seed-quality assurance system is facing a basic capacity question: can just six govt seed-testing laboratories adequately support a crop spread across over 45 lakh hectares of land?Poor soybean seed germination is forcing farmers in several parts of the state to undertake resowing and absorb additional costs. State agriculture department has received 20,000 complaints this Kharif season alone. It has filed 85 FIRs against private seed companies, but agriculture scientists say legal action post-crop failure cannot substitute for a mechanism of preventive testing.Maharashtra requires about 35 lakh tonnes of soybean seed every Kharif season, with the state having only six laboratories for testing. Three of these are run by the state agriculture department and the remaining by three agriculture universities. This mismatch shows up during the short pre-sowing period, when thousands of seed lots have to be tested, certified, distributed and, eventually, planted within a narrow window.State agriculture commissioner Suraj Mandhare told TOI, “The demand for govt testing of each seed lot would require substantial enhancement of laboratory capacity and manpower. We will examine the requirement, including the feasibility of establishing additional seed-testing laboratories in major seed-producing regions,to further strengthen seed quality assurance for farmers,” he said.Mandhare said the existing regulatory system already requires testing of certified seed lots before these are released into the market. For truthful-labelled (TL) seed, however, seed-producing agencies are responsible for quality testing, while the agriculture department carries out random regulatory sampling and testing.Sunil Borkar, director of quality control and inputs in the agricultural department, acknowledged the limitations of the existing capacity. “Going by the existing capacity, it is not practically possible to test each lot from each seed manufacturing company. We need to have a vast network of testing labs to carry out tests, including germination, on time.”Why testing before sowing matters:Experts say germination directly determines whether farmers get an adequate plant population from the seed they buy. A seed lot may carry the required label, but laboratory testing can identify problems with germination, physical purity, moisture and other quality parameters before the seed reaches the farmers.Milind Deshmukh, an agricultural scientist who has developed three soybean varieties, said, “Seed is the most critical input in agriculture. If the seed fails, the farmer loses the money spent on it and on land preparation, sowing, fertiliser, labour, and most importantly, time. A district-level network can enable pre-sale testing, random market checks, quicker identification of defective lots, and better traceability. It can substantially reduce the burden on farmers by stopping a defective lot from reaching the field.”If there are labs in each district, it would give farmers easier access to testing facilities, Deshmukh said. “At present, a farmer who suspects poor-quality seed may find it difficult to independently obtain timely laboratory confirmation, particularly during the short sowing window. Once seeds are properly certified and tested, farmers can have greater confidence in their quality,” he added.Experts estimate that a laboratory could be established for about Rs 60 lakh. Even a network covering nearly 20 major soybean-growing districts would therefore represent a relatively modest public investment when compared with the financial losses caused by failed germination and repeated sowing. “A state like Maharashtra should not have a problem establishing more labs. It will have multiple advantages, including seed testing, helping in developing scientific practices among farmers and local-level research work,” said Vilas Tathod, an agriculture activist from Akola district.“An increasing number of seed testing labs is the need of the hour, considering repeated instances of poor germination in the state. Farmers spend lakhs of rupees on resowing, and their hard work goes to waste. If they get certified seeds they would be able to save farmers,” said Vijay Jawandhia, a farmer activist from Nagpur.Experts also argue that such laboratories should not be restricted to soybeans. The same infrastructure could be used for testing seeds of cotton, pulses, cereals, oilseeds and horticultural crops, improving the overall quality-control system. Satish Nichal, head of the Regional Research Centre of Dr Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth in Amravati, said expansion could simultaneously address laboratory capacity and provide training to agriculture students. “Govt can engage students pursuing bachelor’s and postgraduate courses in agriculture. They can get hands-on experience in these laboratories as well as real field exposure.”
