Question : Scheme for Seed Banks

(a) whether the Government proposes to formulate any scheme to set up Government seed banks at the block/division level and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the details of seed banks functioning in various States including Maharashtra/Union Territories as on date, district-wise;
(c) the details of seed banks set up during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
(d) whether the Government proposes to set up more seed banks for preservation and promotion of local/indigenous variety of plants and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
(e) the amount of funds allocated/utilised in this regard along with the number of farmers benefited from the said seed banks during the above period; and
(f) the measures being taken by the Government for providing advanced variety of seeds to farmers easily through the seed banks?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) to (f) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 382 DUE FOR REPLY ON 23rd MARCH, 2021.

(a) to (d): There are 22 seed banks functioning in the country including one at the national level with National Seeds Corporation Limited and 21 in different States/Union Territories namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. These seed banks supply seeds of short and medium duration crop varieties to the farmers during contingency situations like flood, drought etc. under which one percent of the total availability of seeds of preceding year in the country is kept every year. The implementing agencies are maintaining the seeds on a regional basis keeping in the view of ease movement of seeds to the affected areas.

At present, there is no proposal with the Government to set up more seed banks for preservation and promotion of local/indigenous variety of plants. However, the Government has a policy to encourage conservation of the seeds of local/indigenous varieties of various crops. The National Gene Bank of National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources and its ten regional stations has conserved 3,24,031 local/indigenous varieties and the National Gene Bank of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Authority has also conserved 1806 registered traditional/local/indigenous varieties of different crops.

(e): The details of fund utilized by the seed banks in the country during last three years including current year is as under:
Year Amount released/utilized (Rs. in crore)
2017-18 26.78
2018-19 11.50
2019-20 9.30
2020-21 17.21

Contd...2/-

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(f): The States are primarily responsible to ensure production, availability and distribution of quality seeds to the farmers. Government of India supplements the efforts of the State Governments by coordinating seed requirement and availability through the Zonal Seeds Review Meetings and National Conference on agriculture prior to each sowing season. Government of India also provides financial assistance/subsidy for production and distribution of certified seeds to the farmers through various crop development programmes/schemes viz. National Food Security Mission, National Food Security Mission-Oilseeds and Oil Palm, Sub- Mission on Seeds and Planting Materials and Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

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