JICA to support seed production
JICA signed Record of Discussions with the Government of Nepal for the technical cooperation project ‘Strengthening Seed Production, Supply, and Quality Control System Project’ today.
The implementation period of the project is five years and the executing agency is Seed Quality Control Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, and Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Province 1.
According to JICA, the project will be implemented in Province 1, mainly Jhapa, Morang, Sunasari and Udayapur districts. The purpose of the project is to strengthen Rice seed production, supply and quality control system to improve productivity of rice by means of dissemination of quality improved seeds in Province 1 and to strengthen the implementation of the rice seed production, supply and quality control system.
Rice is fundamental crop of Nepali agriculture. Even though rice farming contributes around 15 per cent of the National GDP of Nepal, there is still possibility to increase its yield.
According to statistics, seed replacement rate of rice in Nepal is around 20 per cent now, therefore, the Nepal government has the strategy to raise the percentage to 25 per cent.
