Seed certification centre in Telangana soon

Telangana will soon have a seed certification centre of international standards which will certify seeds from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has appointed Telangana as the nodal state to certify seeds in the four southern states. To promote seed development, OECD on Tuesday organized a meeting in Kurnool chaired by Telangana principal secretary and vice chairman of OECD task force, C Parthasarathi.

The principal secretary said there will be no inter-state boundaries when it



comes to seed development and requested AP farmers to join the movement to double seed exports from the country . “The OECD has exported 17,000 quintals to Egypt, Sudan and Philippines during Rabi season. India is now at fifth position in seed development and 34th in seed exports,“ he said.

International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), an organisation formed to foster qualitative standards in seed production, sampling, testing and marketing across the world, has agreed to provide the required technology for southern states.