Improved Vegetable Seed Marketing In Selected Districts Of Nepal

Abstract

Vegetable seed is a high value, low volume and non-perishable product which have proven to be a viable income generation option for addressing economic development of remote areas. The objective of this report is to analyze the present trend of seed sale, to assess the comparative price differences of differently packed seeds and to identify the problems prevailing in seed business.A set of structured questionnaire was developed and used to interview fifty-seven respondents which included agro-vets and seed companies. More than 50% of the total transaction of agro-vets and seed companies is occupied by seed of which30% is occupied by vegetable seeds. Amongst the total vegetable seed sale,more than half (54%) is contributed by open pollinated seeds. Demand for vegetable seed is largely met by seed import namely from Japan, India and China. Out of 23 vegetables,Radish, Beans, Cauliflower and Broad leaf mustard have good demand across all agro-ecology. Vegetable seeds are available in three types of packaging, normal plastic pouch, good plastic or paper pouch with truthful label (TL) and aluminum lined paper packages with full information as in imported seeds. The detail study explicitly states that the price differences between seeds with and without TL ranges from 40-60%. The truthful labeled and well packed or sophisticated packed seeds fetch higher price and are more popular among the growers. Thus, the sale of seed is highly dependent on good packaging in seed business. The study also highlights the importance of TL in terms of better price and reliability. Similarly, the respondents unanimously agreed on the fact that well packed seeds with full information gain better trust from farmers. Majority of respondents performed an advance contract with seed producer groups for seed production but, a very few entrepreneurs are providing the source seeds to the producers. Likewise, limited numbers of entrepreneurs are providing compensation to farmers for inferior and low quality seeds. The types and amount of compensation depended upon the individual companies and agro-vet’s policy. The collected constrains in vegetable seed business were grouped into ten specific categories. Most prevalent constrains were low availability of source seed, lack technical know-how on seed production and processing facility and lack of farmer’s commitment to keep up with the agreement with the seed companies or agro-vets. Based on the analysis and interpretation, the report provides the recommendations for policy and implementation level.