Current status, challenges and future prospects of vegetable seed system in India

Abstract

Vegetable production in India has increased manifolds due to gradual increase in productivity and area under vegetable cultivation over the years, which maintains its 2nd ranking in global vegetable production after China. This has led to availability of 357 grams/person/day of vegetables in the country. India has first rank in pea (Pisum sativum) and okra (Abelmoscus esculentus) production, while it ranks 2nd in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), cauliflower (Brassica oleracea), potato (Solanum tuberosum), onion (Allium cepa) and brinjal (Solanum melongena) production (Kumar et al, 2017). Vegetables are important constituents of agriculture for attaining food and nutritional security. It also has ability to generate on-farm and off-farm employment. An increase in availability, affordability and consumption of nutrient dense vegetables is one of the ways to prevent malnutrition. India is bestowed with huge diversity of vegetables and is the largest contributors (59.20%) of the total horticultural produce in the country in 2017-18. Area under vegetable cultivation is continuously increasing, mainly due to higher productivity, shorter maturity cycle, high value and greater income leading to improved livelihoods. Production of vegetables is touching new records every year, making it the most favoured agricultural commodity by the farmers. Production during 2017-18 was recorded 184 million tons from 10.3 million hectares, whereas it was less than 20 million tons during independence. This manifold increase needs to be sustained to meet the demand of 1.5 billion people by 2030 (Horticultural Statistics at a Glance, 2018 and https://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/six_head_product/FFV.htm). Seed is the first and foremost important commodity for successful vegetable cultivation. Indian vegetable seed industry is growing enormously. Since independence, government policies liberalized and encouraged seed trade in India. Several private seed firms with multinational base are actively involved in vegetable seed production in India. Expanding areas under vegetable cultivation, varied agro-climatic conditions, availability of huge and cheap human resource is creating titanic scope for development of vegetable seed industry in India. Vegetable seed industry has positive influence on Indian economy in terms of income and employment generation and earning foreign exchange in international market. There are few constraints like high cost of seed production, technical problems and stringent laws set break to the vegetable seed industry in India (Koundinya and Kumar, 2014).