Tripura attains self sufficiency in paddy high breed seeds

Agartala, Sep 6: Tripura has attained self sufficiency in producing high breed paddy seeds and would soon be able to export after meeting the state's requirements.

The National Seed Corporation (NSC) will purchase the high breed seeds from the state for which an agreement was signed with the agriculture department, Agriculture Minister Tapan Chakraborty told newsmen last night.

The Tripura government has been working to make the state self-sufficient in food within 2010 and for this the agriculture department had taken up an ambitious scheme.

The state will export 400 MT high breed paddy seeds through the NSC this year and the farmers will earn about Rs 40 lakhs from this.

''There are 2 lakh 80 hectares of cultivable land in the state. So there is the need to raise the food production and hence the state govenment has given importance on the production of high breed seeds,'' the minister added.

The state tops the chart in producing seeds in the entire N E region. During the 1999-2000 financial year the state had produce only 28 MT seeds which increased during 2005-06 to 4,000 MT of seeds, informed the Commissioner of agriculture department G S G Ayenger and added that the state's requirement is 3000MT seeds.

It may be mentioned here that the state is also exporting True Potato Seeds (TPS) to other states as well as to the neighbouring countries. Tripura has the distinction of producing TPS in entire Asia.

UNI