Bangladesh's agriculture needs about 1.3 million tonnes of seed a year.
Only 30 per cent of that reaches farmers through the formal system, tested and quality-controlled.
Another 40 per cent is semi-formal and the remaining 30 per cent is seed the farmer has saved.
Khorshed Alam, joint secretary of the agriculture ministry and director general of its seed wing, stressed wider use of tested, quality seed to raise productivity and competitiveness.
The figures were presented at a workshop at the SAARC Agriculture Centre on the BARC campus.
Quality-controlled seed guarantees germination rate and varietal purity; farm-saved seed loses yield year on year.
The workshop concluded that a large gain in productivity is unlikely without widening the seed certification system.
Source: Samakal
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