Chairman participates in 6th National Seed Congress

Lucknow: The 6^th National Seed Congress was held in Lucknow last week. It dwelt on major issues related to agriculture, most important being production of genetically modified (GM) crops and high yielding variety of seeds. Mr. Akhilesh Yadav, Honorable CM of Uttar Pradesh, was the chief guest at the sixth edition of the congress which was hosted in UP for the first time.

Our Chairman Mr. M Prabhakar Rao presented a lead paper on ‘Seed Planning – Private Sector Perspective’. Appreciating India’s growth in Seed market from 2005 to 2012, Chairman suggested that conventional breeding supported by biotech tools in all crops suitable to all agro-climatic zones and improving the seed replacement rate (SRR) through farmer extension education programmes in PPP mode will help continue the momentum.

Chairman added, “India has tremendous potential to supply quality seed to international markets. This can be achieved through aggressively perusing the introduction of existing hybrids into similar agro-climatic regions like SAARC and South East Asian countries and actively taking forward the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) initiated by Ministry of Agriculture”.

Visit of Nigerian Delegates

On Monday, a Nigerian delegation team, Mr. Damilola Eniaiyeju, Director- Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Mr. Anibe Achimugu, MD, Arewa cotton and allied products co. ltd. visited Nuziveedu Seeds’ plant at Kothur, Hyderabad. Dr. P Sateesh Kumar, Director – R&D, Nuziveedu Seeds and Mr. Ch Narayana Swamy, Plant head, welcomed the delegates and took them around our facilities including cob drying, processing and packing. The Nigerian delegates were quite impressed with the salient features of NSL’s plant. At Kothur plant, processing and packaging of field crops including Maize, Paddy, Sorghum, Pearl millet, Sunflower, Fodder Jowar and Castor is done. It also has the facility to process cotton seed.
The plant has conditioned storage facility with full power back up to ensure seeds are stored for longer periods. Seed testing lab at Kothur is equipped with full infrastructure and tested 48,000 samples per annum. We verify quality parameters of seeds such as physical appearance, moisture, physical purity, germination and vigour etc. We simultaneously test the seeds at the field for germination.

See more about Nuziveeduseeds

Nuziveedu Seeds - Mustard

Mustard

Mustard (Brassica spp.), a native to temperate regions of Europe, was one of the first domesticated crops. This crop’s economic value resulted in its wide dispersal and it has been grown as a herb in Asia, North Africa, and Europe for thousands of years. Mustard has been cultivated as early as 5000 BC. Brassica (rapeseed‐mustard) is the second most important edible oilseed crop in India after groundnut and accounts for nearly 30% of the total oilseeds produced in the country. India is one of the largest rapeseed‐mustard growing countries in the world, accounting for 21.7 % and 10.7% of the total acreage and production occupying the first position in Area and second position in Production after China. The most important states growing these crops are Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat and West Bengal. The world production of Rapeseed/Mustard has been increasing at a rapid rate in several countries largely in response to the continuing increase in demand for edible oils and its products.

New Maize Products

   

Maize was the first major cereal crop in human civilization to be affected by hybridization. It is the most widely distributed crop of world being grown in diverse seasons and ecologies with highest production and productivity among food cereals. It is grown in about 166 countries occupying 165 mha area with production of more than 800 million tons and productivity of 5.1 tons/ha. It is used worldwide for about 3500 products of different uses as feed (61%), food (17%) and also serves as a source of basic raw material of number of industries (22%) viz., starch, ethanol, oil, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners, pharma, cosmetics etc. No other cereal can be used in such many ways as maize.

Chairman will be heading NSAI’s governing council from 2013-2015

Mr. Rao will be heading NSAI’s governing council 2013-2015

National Seed Association of India which represents the private & public sector seeds companies announced the appointment of Mr. M Prabhakar Rao as its new president. The announcement came after the annual general meeting held on 31st July 2013 in New Delhi. Mr. Rao will be heading NSAI’s governing council 2013-2015. Mr.M Prabhakar Rao is the Chairman and Managing Director of Hyderabad based India’s largest seed company Nuziveedu Seeds Limited.

Commenting on being elected as the President of premier seed association, Mr. M Prabhakar Rao said, “I am honored to have been bestowed with such responsibility, which gives me an opportunity to work towards regulatory issues faced by seed industry, creating conducive environment for seed industry functioning and for Intellectual property rights for the seeds varieties so as to enhance R&D investments for benefit of farmers”.

The other members of NSAI’s office bearers include Mr. M. G. Shembekar, Vice President, (Ankur Seeds Pvt. Ltd.), Mr. Bhupen Dubey, General Secretary, (UPL Advanta Ltd.), Dr. K. S. Narayanaswamy, Treasurer, (GEO Biotechnologies Pvt. Ltd.), Dr. K. V. Subbarao, Immediate Past President, (PHI Seeds Ltd.) among other members.

National Seed Association of India has 238 seed companies, including private and public sector companies as its members. The association facilitates consultation between the members and the Government of India, state governments and different international agencies.

About National Seed Association of India (NSAI):
The National Seed Association of India provides a forum for consultation between the Members and the concerned Ministries of Government of India, ICAR, Certification Agencies, State Governments and with different international agencies that regulates seed sector. With greater openness in the economy, the Association is gearing up for a much bigger role by hosting national and international seed conferences like Indian Seed Congress (ISC) and Asian Seed Congress of APSA and ISF and by working towards an increased role for India in the international seed trade. The private sector has strong scientific capabilities and breeding programs, comprehensive multi location testing facilities including on-farm testing of pre-commercial hybrids as per national and international testing protocols, research trial data supplemented by on-farm test data and farmer feedback on performance and preference to facilitate decisions on commercialization of new hybrids. Indian Seed industry is working towards farmer prosperity through varietal development and spreading right agronomy for yield enhancement.

Chairman elected as President of National Seed Association of India (NSAI)

National Seed Association of India (NSAI) which represents the private & public sector seeds companies announced the appointment of our beloved Chairman Mr. M Prabhakar Rao as its new president. The announcement came after the annual general meeting held on 31st July 2013 in New Delhi. Chairman will be heading NSAI’s governing council for 2013-2015.

Our Chairman said, “I am honored to have been bestowed with such responsibility, which gives me an opportunity to work towards regulatory issues faced by seed industry, creating conducive environment for seed industry functioning and for Intellectual property rights for the seeds varieties so as to enhance R&D investments for benefit of farmers”.

Dr. P Sateesh Kumar, Director, R&D, Nuziveedu Seeds and Mr. Venkateshwarlu, MD, Yaaganti Seeds, are also elected to governing council.

NSL to focus on R&D, inorganic growth via acquisitions

Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL) is the largest hybrid seed producer in the country. It is the dominant player in cotton seed segment with a 25 per cent share of the Rs 3,500-crore market. It’s seeds are used by more than 5.5 million farmers. Recently, M Prabakar Rao, chairman and managing director of Nuziveedu Seeds, was elected president of the National Seed Association of India, which is represented by 238 seed companies including private and public sector companies as its members. Prabakar Rao talks to Sanjeev Sharma about the growth of hybrid seed industry in the country and how kharif sowing has crossed record levels thereby boosting the seed industry.

Q: What is the outlook on the domestic seed industry?

A: Domestic seed market has grown at 15-20% in the past two years, which is almost double the growth experienced by other countries. Development of new varieties of seeds in the country is low and also replacement of new varieties of seeds is low as compared to rest of the world. This will change as demand goes up. Worldwide, the seed industry is a $42 billion market. Top six countries, including India, control 67% of the global market.

In terms of crops, cotton seed market size is estimated to be nearly 23% that of the seed industry. Paddy seeds dominate the market in terms of the volumes with around 50% of the market followed by wheat with 37%.

With kharif sowing crossing record levels across the country, the season proves to be promising one for the seed industry as well. Area under kharif crops, including paddy and other foodgrains, has increased by over 17% to around 750 lakh hectare till the last week of July.

Q: Traditional food crop growing areas like Punjab and Haryana are moving to cash crops. What does this mean for your business model?

A: Punjab and Haryana are facing problems like over-exploitation of water resources forcing farmers to diversify into cash crops like maize. Nuziveedu Seeds has good presence in Punjab, Haryana and UP for cotton, varietal and hybrid paddy. Apart from these states, the company intends to increase participation in government subsidy programmes in states such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha to market products to more farmers. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has identified seven hybrid seeds developed by Nuziveedu Seeds for paddy, maize, sorghum and pearl millet, of which five are eligible for subsidies.

Q: Has NSL expanded its product portfolio in other crops such as paddy, maize and vegetables?

A: We are focusing on non-cotton seed segments like paddy, maize and vegetables. We have also developed hybrid seeds for vegetables such as tomatoes, chillies, okra and brinjals. We intend to continue to produce these high quality products at affordable prices in order to increase our market share. Sale of these crops today contributes more than 25% of the total seeds business.

Q: How big is NSL’s infrastructure and distribution network?

A: We own 16 processing plants which are spread in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Gujarat. The processing centres have a combined processing capacity of 148 TPH (ton per hour) and an aggregate capacity to store 79,500 metric tonne of seeds.

Q: Recently NSL implemented a PPP model with Maharashtra government. How successful has been this model?

A: We engage in collaborative research activities with various government and international organisations. The Maharashtra government along with Nuziveedu Seeds took this initiative to increase per acre yield of cotton by employing innovative crop methods like high density planting and improved agronomic practices. The project is the largest in the country covering nearly 10,000 acres. More than 3,000 farmers from the region benefitted through this project. The results have been quite encouraging. The Maharashtra government has now evinced interest in extending the project to 20,000 acres this year covering seven districts.

Q: What is NSL’s growth strategy? Any plans to expand into overseas market?

A: Our strategy rests on five pillars — consolidating leadership position in cotton; increasing market share in crops like varietal and hybrid paddy, hybrid maize and hybrid seeds for vegetables such as tomatoes and brinjal; expanding our customer and distribution base; focus on R&D activities; and pursue inorganic growth via acquisitions. Our major focus markets within India are North and East. We are also actively looking to expand our footprint in South and South-East Asia. We invest around 3 per cent of our total revenue towards R&D activities and our research facilities are spread over 815 acres.