Govt plans to complete world-class seed laboratory by next July

The State government was establishing a state-of-the-art seed laboratory and planning to complete the works before the International Seed Congress Summit in July, 2019.The government allocated Rs 6 crore for setting up the world-class laboratory and works are going on at a brisk pace at Rajendranagar. On Saturday, Agriculture Principal Secretary C Parthasarathi, Police Housing Corporation MD Malla Reddy, Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Prof Praveen Kumar, Telangana Seed Certification Agency Director Dr K Keshavulu visited the site and suggested a few changes in the structure. 

The Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Authority (TSSOCA) was a nodal agency for testing and certifying seed for 10 States and recently, got accreditation to certify organic products too. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao wanted to turn the State into a seed bowl of the country. From past three years, the State seed certification agency was supplying quality seeds to several other countries besides the many North Indian States.

After reviewing the works, Keshavulu said the most-advanced laboratory for seed testing was coming up in the State and the government had allocated Rs 3 crore for procuring equipment. The lab will have Phyto sanitation, seed health testing mechanism, genetically-modified testing unit and more. He said once the lab materialised, the State could export more quality seeds to other countries.

“Already, we are exporting around 12,000 quintals of seed to various countries,” Keshavulu said, adding that the State government’s cooperation in seed sector development was encouraging and so far, conducted many seminars by involving foreign delegates based on Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) standards. The lab will be affiliated to International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) and is authorised to carry out certain tests for customers on behalf of ISTA.The Laboratory conducts tests on a wide range of species. The majority of samples come from seed merchants, farmers, Keshavulu said.