However, the country would likely face a severe shortage of wheat seed for the upcoming sowing season. Officials say the supply of quality wheat seed has increased by only 23,000 tons over the past year. In 2019 too, the availability of quality wheat seed was inadequate, indicating that it is a chronic issue. They attribute the shortage of quality wheat seed to the absence of a proper mechanism for seed regulation, saying this shortcoming has rendered it difficult to decide about availability and requirement of seed in advance. They have been asking the government to import quality seeds before our research institutes evolve better quality seeds.

Source: The Express Tribune November 19, 2020 03:45 UTC